Uzumaki Gaiden
by Trooper0007
Summary: After the Fourth Great Shinobi War has ended, everything quickly went back to the way it was before the war. The villagers despise Naruto again, and he is banished. Years later, he returns as the Dragon Sennin. And he is not happy. Naruto X Small Harem.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: To Begin Again**

* * *

**In this story, Naruto is banished shortly after the Fourth Shinobi World War ends, and heads west away from the Elemental Nations. While there, he ends up in the village founded by the Hayabusa, the Mugen Tenshin, and the Fu-Ma Ninja Clans. The village is simply called Kakure Sato. Please note that Patriot-112's story formed the basic outline for this story. Therefore, I don't want anybody to comment about the similarities between the two, because I adopted this story from him.**

* * *

It was a bright and beautiful day in the world as the sound of young children playing in a small farming village could be heard off in the distance. Overlooking the small village sitting underneath a blooming Sakura tree was a young man that was six feet two inches tall and appeared to be in his early twenties. He had short blond spiky hair with red tips at the end of his spikes. His eyes were a stunning deep ocean blue that would mesmerize almost anybody that looked into them. However, his most startling features were the six whisker-like scars that adorn his cheeks.

This man's name was Naruto Uzumaki, an exiled genin-ranked ninja from Konohagakure no Sato, the son of the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze and the Kunoichi known as Kushina Uzumaki of Uzushiogakure. More importantly, he was the third and final Jinchūriki of Kurama, better known as the Kyūbi no Yoko or the nine-tailed fox.

It was over five years ago since the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, shortly after that he had been banished for fulfilling his promise to his teammate Sakura Haruno. He had been banished because of the fact that the village that he had been born in, the very one that he had almost sacrificed everything for, simply couldn't let go of their blind hatred for him. In the time that he had been banished, he undergone such drastic changes that if any of his so called friends saw him now, they would easily mistake him for someone else.

He no longer wore an orange and black jumpsuit, now he wore a traditional purple shinobi shōzoku covering his body with a matching ninja hood covering his head. His feet were supported by a pair black ninja tabi boots with matching grieves. His forearms, wrists, and hands were protected by a pair of black fingerless gauntlets. For added concealment, the lower half of his face was concealed by a black mask, while an equally black scarf was tied around his neck with the tails of the scarf handing off of his back. Tied around his waist was a purple obi sash that held his Shōzoku top firmly in place. His shinobi headband no longer had the symbol of the hidden leaf village; instead, it had the Kanji for Hidden carved into it. For added protection from arrows, shurikens, and sword slashes, he wore a suit of form fitting Kusari gusoku or chain mail underneath his Shōzoku.

Next to him on the ground lay a Katana sword stored in its black saya with a black cord rope tied on to it using the two Kuri-kata knobs that were located five inches below the brass Koiguchi of the saya, and three inches above the saya's brass kojiri. The fuchi, habaki, seppa, and the tsuba of the katana were made out of solid pieces of brass, with the tsuba depicting an eastern dragon biting the end of its tail forming a circle. The tsuka was wrapped in a blue-dyed cotton tsuka-ito that formed diamond shapes along the sides of the tsuka that exposed its metallic golden color. The Kashira of the sword was also made out of brass.

He also had on him a two dozen shurikens and four Kunai knifes that were located in specially made pouches sown into his shōzoku. These pouches were made out of the same fabric as his outfit and had three special seals built into them. The three seals were extremely practical for a ninja in terms of function. The first seal allowed, him store an almost infinite number of shurikens and in the pouches without him having to worry about over stuffing the pocket. The second seal worked in conjure with a pair of seals located on the inside part of his gauntlets, which allowed him to instantly summon shurikens to his hands ready to by thrown. The third and final seal worked with the seals that he had painstakingly placed on all of his shurikens that allowed them instantly teleport back into his hidden pouches a few minutes after they were thrown clean, and ready to go.

To think that this complete change had occurred following his banishment from the Hidden Leaf village on trumped up charges.

After the death of Tobi the true leader of the Akatsuki, the destruction of the Edo Tensei Army, the disappearance of Kabuto plus Orochimaru, and surprisingly, the revival of most of the undead Jinchūriki and Jiraiya, the son of the Yondaime Hokage went up against his supposed best friend, and current traitor of the Leaf village, Sasuke Uchiha. It had been a long and extremely difficult battle, but in the end, Naruto emerged out on top. He then brought back the Last Uchiha back to Konoha, finally fulfilling his promise to Sakura that he made to her two years earlier.

* * *

**Start of a Flashback**

* * *

_Naruto stood proudly behind Kakashi and Sakura as he explained the epic battle that he had gone through in order to bring back the rogue Uchiha. Sure, he was more than a little irked that Sasuke had managed to jam his Chidori covered fist into shoulder again. Nevertheless, that didn't matter as he had finally kept his promise that he had made to Sakura-Chan before he left the village to retrieve Sasuke the first time. Maybe now, she'll start treating him with a lot more respect than she usual showed him._

"_That's basically what happened, you guys." Naruto exclaimed as he finished telling his teammates about everything that led up to their current situation thinking that everything was okay in the universe. _

_Only to be proven wrong by a chakra enhanced punch to the face courtesy of Sakura. Thankfully, for the blond-haired Jinchūriki, the damage that he had received from the punch was negligible due to the healing factor that was given to him by Kurama. _

"_YOU WORTHLESS BAKA! I WANTED SASUKE-KUN RETURNED TO THE VILLAGE UNHARMED, NOT HALF-DEAD!" Sakura screeched loudly causing everybody in the room including the comatose Uchiha to flinch at the sound of her voice._

_For the first time in his life, a surge of uncontrollable anger began fill Naruto. All the memories of the near constant abuse that he had suffered at Sakura' hands in his mad attempt to get her to like him flashed within his mind. He quietly clenched his hands into fist causing the sound of his knuckles cracking to echo loudly in the room._

"_Sakura, you should be grateful that I managed to even bring this ungrateful son of a bitch back alive in the first place." Naruto spoke in an unnaturally calm and even voice that immediately caused Kakashi to snap out of his glazed over look that he had been sporting ever since he learned that Tobi had really been his thought to be deceased teammate Obito Uchiha. _

_It was the same kind of tone that Naruto's father would take, when somebody had been dumb enough to anger him. The last time that happened occurred back during the Third Shinobi World War, when he caught a division of Iwa ninja raping an entire village's female population after killing all the men in the village._

"_Naruto, I suggest that you leave or else I'll have to call the ANBU guards to forcibly remove you from the premise." The silver-haired Cyclops commented as he moved to get between his two remaining students to prevent an all out brawl from braking out._

_Naruto looked at his former so called sensei with a heated glare. You couldn't really be called a teacher, if all you teach somebody is tree walking and wind manipulation. It was clear to him that Kakashi was going to show favoritism towards the Uchiha loving bitch that started all of this._

"_Fine, I know when I'm not wanted around. But from now on stay the hell away from unless you have a message from the Hokage or we're out on a mission." Naruto angrily spoke as he left the hospital room with a look of disgust on his face._

* * *

**End of Flashback**

* * *

After Sasuke recovered from his coma, Naruto continued to avoid his former teammates as much as possible. However, as time passed by the last living Uzumaki quickly noticed that everyone in the village was giving him the same glares and whispering the same insults that they used to call him when he was child. They went so far as to blame him for Nagato attacking their village and causing them to lose their status as the strongest ninja village in the elemental nations. These insults and glares only intensified when word leaked out that Nagato had been a member of the deceased member of the Uzumaki clan, the same clan that Naruto's mother hailed from.

It became increasingly clear to him that the acceptance that he received from the villagers after defeating Nagato had been nothing more than a lie. To make matters worse many of his "so-called" friends and surrogate family had quickly abandoned and turned against him. First up was the Konohamaru Corps who simply ignored him, while Konohamaru saying that he would never call the monster who'd killed his grandmother a brother, and took off, with Moegi and Udon following. Next was the rest of the Konoha 11 with the exception of Hinata and surprisingly Tenten, who all spat hateful words towards him, and then left him in the street, shocked and hurt. The sensei of the Konoha 11 just told him to get lost and not bother them anymore. He even noticed that his surrogate grandparents, Tsunade Senju and Jiraiya, were giving him the cold shoulder along with a look that said, "Beat it or else," but in a more spiteful way.

By the end of the first year following the end of the war, Naruto only had eleven people left who were still willing to talk to him on a regular basis. the first being Tokubetsu Jōnin Anko Mitarashi, who knew what it was like to be ostracized by the villagers due to her past connections to Orochimaru. The second were the two chūnin Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane, who actually found the pranks that he use to do as a kid pretty funny. His two surrogate older sisters Shizune who almost immediately after returning the village established herself as his personal doctor after seeing his medical files, and Yūgao Uzuki, who he knew used to watch over him when he was growing up. The Ichiraku family, who apparently made sure that he, got all of proper nourishment by dissolving food supplement pills into his orders. Iruka Umino, who had came to view him as a younger brother. A fellow genin by the name of Kosuke Maruboshi, who due to his age had known the previous two Jinchūriki for Kurama and knew better than to view him as the demon itself. Finally, there was Hinata Hyūga and Tenten, both of whom didn't care about the fact that he was the container of the creature that had nearly destroyed their home seventeen years earlier.

Speaking of Hinata and Tenten, he secretly started going out with the two of them after his confrontation with Sakura. When he asked them, why they would be willing to go out with a person like him their answer both surprised him and more than made him happy. They told him that out of all the shinobi in the village, he was perhaps the only one that truly understood the will of fire and that they would stick by him no matter what. For the first time in months, Naruto truly believed that everything was going to turn out okay. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be as word quickly began to spread that he was seeing the two girls, which nearly caused the villagers to riot over the fact. The Hyūga clan's elders demanded that Hinata marry a "nobleman" outside of the village or else she'd have the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu placed on her and before being placed into the branch family. Therefore, in attempt to protect Hinata, Naruto broke things off with her much to her sadness and understanding.

While with Tenten, Tsunade stepped in and had assigned the weapons mistress to the Fire Daimyō's court as one of ninja bodyguards much to her's and Naruto's irritation. Sadly, there was nothing that either of them could do about it, as this was a direct order from the Hokage. With nothing left in the village to keep Naruto loyal to the village, the village's Council demanded in their infinite wisdom that he was to be banished for crimes against the village, something that Tsunade full heartedly agreed with. To add more insult to injury, they demanded that Jiraiya strike his name off of the toad contract to drive home the point that this was really happening to him. The Toads didn't even hesitate to strike his name off from the list of summoners.

As he left the Council room to go pack his few meager belongings, he quietly took off his shinobi headband and stabbed a kunai knife right into the center of the leaf symbol before jabbing the knife in a wall. A few hours later, he was at the west village gate saying his goodbyes to the few friends that he had left in the village except for Hinata who had been forbidden to ever talk to him again. Yūgao was able to explain this to him and also promised him that she'd notify Tenten who was still at the Forbidden City within the Land of Fire's Capital about his exile. Naruto understood and thanked her for helping him for all these years before leaving the village forever.

Knowing that the village, or Tsunade and the village council to be more precise would try and pull a fast one on him, Naruto began heading west as far away from the elemental nations as he could go. He could've gone to Countries he helped in the past or even to another shinobi village that he fought alongside with during the war, but decided not to so he wouldn't bring any trouble to them. Besides he heard the Western Lands were in a constant state of warfare, meaning that he would be a lot safer there than in the elemental nations.

That had been nearly four years ago and since then Naruto had changed greatly. No longer was the unpredictable knuckle headed ninja that charged head first into a situation without even thinking, instead he had become a calm and level-headed shinobi that was considered a master ninja by the few people that weren't his allies, who had seen him at work and lived to tell about it. To think that this change had all came about because, he decided to interfere in a kidnapping of two young girls.

* * *

**Start of a Flashback**

* * *

_Naruto was absolutely bored out of his mind as he walked on a small game trail that led to parts unknown to him. All he knew was that he had entered the forest that the local farming communities Mori no Kage or the forest of Shadows. Granted, he knew that this was the price that he would have to pay for leaving the Elemental Nations behind. Still, he wished for someone to appear so he could have some companionship other that the fox that was currently sealed inside of him. Alternatively, have somebody with skills that equaled his own to fight with in order to keep up with his training. _

_In the last three months, he had gotten into several fights with some of the local ninja and needless to say, he wasn't very impressed by them. All of them had been mid-chūnin level at most and not very challenging to him after fighting Nagato and Obito both of whom were Kage-level shinobi._

"_Kami, I wish for something to happen. Hell at this point, I'll even take a squad of Konoha hunter-nin." Naruto spoke in a loud manner that reaffirmed the common belief that most shinobi back in the hidden leaf village held of him._

_However, Kurama wasn't too happy that his host had decided to give away their position just because he was bored out of his mind. _

"_**Kit, I wouldn't be complaining about not seeing any action right if I were you. I've been stuck inside of a cage for the last seventeen years, so how do you think I feel. So shut up and keep walking."**__ Kurama angrily retorted as shifted slightly so his left legs wouldn't fall asleep on him._

_Naruto knew better than to argue with Yoko as the fox had raised a valid point. Besides, Kurama had been a huge help in making sure that he'd receive the necessary survival training that had kept him alive since his exile from Konoha. Who would have thought that the ancient demon sealed inside of him actually knew a thing or two about Kenjutsu? The hidden leaf village that was for damn sure._

"_**Hey kit, listen to your surroundings for a second."**__ Kurama ordered as he felt an extremely familiar and sinister energy that he hadn't felt in a long time._

_Naruto did what he was told, after all the Kyūbi had yet to steer him wrong so far save for a few incidents at the start of their rocky relationship. He was greeted with absolute silence of the forest. That was completely unnatural, as he should be hearing the activities of nocturnal animals such as owls and grasshoppers. He immediately went on high alert as only humans had the ability to silence an entire forest without even trying. A few seconds later, he spotted a group of five men wearing dark green sleeveless Shinobi Shōzoku uniform, with grey spider web designs walking towards him. The group of ninjas quickly noticed him and stopped in their tracks at the sight of him._

_For what seemed like an eternity, the two groups stared at each other trying to figure out their opposite number. That's when Naruto noticed that one of them was carrying a frightened little girl with black hair. The little girl was wearing plum purple kimono that matched perfectly with the bright pink hair band that was resting in her hair. A bit further, he noticed that the three rear members of group were holding steel chains that led to a slave collar that was firmly resting around another girl's neck, this girl was slightly older than the first girl was and had ginger-blond hair. She was also wearing a kimono that looked like it had been patched up numerous times with different materials._

"_**Kit, that girl with the collar around her neck, she's the Jinchūriki of Arahabaki."**__ Kurama spoke with some surprise as he recognized why he was so familiar with the sinister power that he felt._

_That caught Naruto completely off guard, as he wasn't expecting to see another Jinchūriki this far out west. He almost instantly recalled one of the conversations that he had with Bee back when they were training together on Turtle Island. The older man talked about the time that he and his brother the Raikage led a team to capture his mother Kushina back when she was younger. The seen in front of him instant told him that something similar was being played out before him._

"_Hello there, stranger, would you be so kind as to get out of our way. We're a little bit in a hurry and we don't want to miss our rendezvous time with the rest of our group." The leader of the group spoke in fake polite manner that failed to hide his not so subtle threat._

_Naruto said nothing as he pulled out his kunai knife and held it in a reverse grip showing that he wasn't going to back down from them. The leader of the group let out a sinister chuckle before he threw the girl that he had been carrying into a nearby oak tree, knocking the little girl out cold and enraging Naruto enough for him to start subconsciously using Kurama's chakra. The opposing ninja took a few steps backwards in fear and surprise at the sight of red chakra beginning to surround him and as his eyes turned blood scarlet red from the demonic influence._

_However, none were more surprised as the ginger-blond haired girl, who eyes widened at the sight of a fellow Jinchūriki. Especially, to meet one that could quickly harness the power of his demon so easily without having to worry about it taking over their body or their seal weakening._

_The leader of the group began to chuckle madly as he recognized who standing in front of him._

"_Well, well, well, if it isn't Naruto Uzumaki, the slayer of the mighty Jūbi. I never thought we Black Spider Ninja would be given the chance to kill the so called hero of the east." The Black Spider ninja commented with an almost maniacal glee in his voice as he pulled out his katana on his back out of its Saya._

_However, it seemed that one of the ninja's subordinates was concerned about the fact that they were on a tight schedule and decided against his better judgment to voice his concerns._

"_Izaya-sama, we don't have enough time to deal with…" the ninja started to explain before Izaya beheaded him in one swift motion._

_Izaya looked down at the headless corpse with absolute hatred as it burst into a purple cloud of flames. For Naruto however, he felt almost sorry for the dead ninja as he was simply trying to keep his superior focused on the mission at hand that was before he realized that they were trying to kidnap two innocent little girls._

"_Now then, seeing how the pest has been dealt with. Let's say we start our little duel to the death." Izaya commented as he dismissed his subordinate's death as if it was nothing._

_That seemed to only provoke Naruto in attacking the spider ninja with his absolute might. Only to have Izaya doge his attack and slash him across his chest. It wasn't fatal due to the chakra cloak and his healing factor, but it was enough to make the blond haired exile think about a possible strategy. Within seconds, he came up with one that involved his two signature jutsu._

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He shouted as six clouds of smoke formed around him producing an equal number of shadow clones. _

_The three Spider ninja gasped, as seven very pissed off Naruto's stood before them ready to tear them apart. Almost immediately four clones paired up into two groups of two and began moving towards the three ninja with the intent to keep them occupied until he was finished with Izaya._

"_Let's get Wild!" The original Naruto shouted as he and his clones charged at the Spider ninja with the full intent of freeing the two girls or die trying._

_With a spectacular use of Shadow clones, Taijutsu, along with a few Fūton and Fūinjutsu that he knew, Naruto emerged victorious over the squad of black spider ninja. However, he hated to admit this about their leader, but Izaya had been an extremely skilled warrior. There had been quite a few times when, he honestly didn't think that he could win the battle. Nevertheless, he had been able to turn the tide of battle into his favor, when he managed to grab Izaya's Katana, and used it to kill him, saving the two girls from a life of pain and suffering._

"_Are you alright?" he asked as he removed the slave collar from the ginger-blond haired girl's neck._

_That's when he felt a sharp burning sensation all of his body causing him to collapse to ground writhing in pain. Naruto had been stabbed, shocked, electrocuted, and so many times in the past, that he had built an extremely high tolerance to pain, but this burning sensation was something entirely different._

"_Kurama, what the hell is happening to me?" Naruto questioned the nine tailed demon as he collapsed onto his hands and knees._

_Kurama for his part was struggling to deal with the poison that was coursing though Naruto's veins. It was a type of poison that could only be found in a certain group of creatures that even he would be reluctant to engage in battle._

"_**I don't know Kit. I'm trying my hardest to purge your systems of these toxins, but it's not working."**__ Kurama shouted in a panicked manner as he struggled to do so._

_Slowly the realization that there was only one possible solution left open for Kurama to take. It was the one that he would have avoid usually, but after seeing the Kit emerge victorious over the Jūbi and remind him about the lessons that the Sage of Six Paths taught him, he figured it was least he could do for the Baka. Besides he had a good several thousand years run._

"_**Kit, let me just say it's been an honor to have you as my host. But now I leave you with this one last request before I sacrifice myself to save your life."**__ Kurama spoke as he slowly began pushing more of his entire being into purging the deadly neurotoxins that was slowly killing Naruto._

_Now Naruto was confused, what in Kami's name was that stupid fox talking about? He could easily understand the last part as Kurama was going to sacrifice himself to save his worthless butt. _

"_What do you want from me, Kurama?" He asked almost hesitantly as he was now completely on the forest floor from the amount of pain that he was in._

_It would be only a matter of time before he passed out from the terrible pain that he was in. _

"_**Kit, I want you to find yourself a couple of vixens to settle down with and have a nice long life."**__ Kurama answered before unleashing the full might of his chakra._

_Within seconds, the chakra began purging Naruto's vital organs and other bodily systems of the poison. However, Kurama began to pour more and more of himself into the task; he slowly began to dissolve until he disappeared completely. As Naruto slowly lost consciousness he saw a group of ninja wearing different color shōzoku, from green to ash grey, wearing a Hitai-ate with the Kanji for 'Hidden' inscribed on the metal plate._

"_Kurama" was his last conscious thought before passed out._

* * *

**End of the Flashback**

* * *

When he woke up three days later, he found himself in a room that reminded him an awful like the rooms of the Hyūga or the Uchiha compound back in Konoha. It was then when he met Jô Hayabusa the leader of the Hayabusa clan, Shiden leader of the main branch of the Mugen Tenshin clan, Genra the leader of the Hajin Mon Sect of the Mugen Tenshin clan, and Chie the leader of the Fu-ma ninja clan. He quickly asked them if the two girls that he saved were all right, when they told him that they were he let out a sigh of relief.

They then explained to him that he was in the Kakure hidden ninja village, and that the two girls that he saved were named Sakura, much to Naruto's surprise, and Natsu. They then asked him who he was, and where he came from. Naruto, seeing no reason as to why not to trust them, told them everything. He first told them his name, and how he was from Konohagakure no Sato. Then he explained how he was banished from Konoha after the recent war, just for being a jinchūriki. That caught the two leaders by surprise, and they asked for him to explain further.

He quickly told them the short version story about how he had the misfortune of being born on the same day as the Kyūbi Attack the village. He explained how his father, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha sealed it into him, after the bijū had been forcibly released from his mother Kushina Uzumaki, the previous jinchūriki of Kurama, by Obito Uchiha. Then, he told the assembled leaders, how his father wished for the people of Konoha to see him as a hero. He told them everything about his harsh upbringing with the village because the villagers refused to follow his father's dying wish and instead treated him as if he was the Kyūbi incarnated. He described in every horrific detail of how he was insulted, glared at, treated like trash, beaten by mobs, parents moving their children away from him, and store owners raising their prices so he couldn't buy any food, or decent clothing. Then, he talked about his days in the Ninja Academy, and how most of the teachers went out of their way to sabotage his education as a shinobi.

After that, he then told them of his first real mission in Nami no Kuni, the Chūnin Exams, the Konoha Invasion by Suna and Oto, Finding Tsunade, the failed mission to 'rescue' Sasuke from the Sound Ninja, and his 3 year training trip with Jiraiya. Then he went on to talk about his return to Konoha, and the mission to rescue Gaara from the Akatsuki. He continued on to the Second Invasion of Konoha, this time led by the rogue Guardian Shinobi, Kazuma, the father of his friend from the Fire Temple, Sora.

Then he spoke how he met Shizuka of the Nadeshiko Village. He described how the village was a matriarchal society, and how the Kunoichi's there took their training seriously, unlike the fangirls from the Konoha. The old leaders were impressed by the description of these female ninja. While Chie nodded her head in approval by the news that there were fellow Kunoichi in the east that took their training just as serious as they did.

He then talked about Nagato, and his position as the figure head leader of Akatsuki, under the alias Pain, who possessed the legendary Rinnegan. He then described of how he invaded Konoha along his Six Paths of Pain with the help of his childhood friend and partner Konan, and how he managed to convince him to stop his attack. He even told them how he met his father for the first time, thanks to Minato sealing his chakra within so he could fix the seal if he reached the eighth tail, after he snapped after seeing Hinata fall to the hands Pain. The four leaders could have sworn that they saw little traces of tears in the corner of his eyes and concluded that the meeting between father and son was indeed emotional.

Then he came to the Kage Summit, and the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi War, and when he was sent with fellow Jinchūriki Killer Bee to turtle island in order to master his chakra. He smiled as he told them how he met his mother, Kushina of the Uzumaki Clan, which peak Jô's curiosity. He went on to tell his experiences through the war, all the way up to his final battle with the phony Madara Uchiha, known as 'Tobi' plus the real Madara Uchiha then how he managed to defeat him and the Jūbi to bring the war to an end. However, then he came to how the village began to treat him _after_ the war, and how most of his so called friends began to turn their backs on him, and how only a select few remained loyal to him. He then told them of his banishment, and he finished telling his tale after telling them of his fight with Izaya.

To say the four Ninja Masters were shocked and disgusted by Konoha's actions would be an understatement. They were absolutely infuriated by the fact that they had betrayed one of their own. They were also concerned for the blonde's safety, because Izaya had been a rising star ninja in the Black Spider Clan and that evil ninja would come after him in revenge for killing five of their number. Silently agreeing with one another, they asked Naruto if he would be a shinobi of Kakure.

To say the son of the Yondaime was floored, was an understatement and he asked them why they would make such an offer to an outsider like him. The two explained that what he told them, while would've destroyed a regular Shinobi, he pulled through. He has shown his skills as a Shinobi time and time again, and they said that they and the rest of the village would be honored to have him among them. In addition, they told him the Black Spider Clan would now be after him, since he killed one of their best ninja.

Naruto thought about it for a couple of moments, but wished to have some time to think about the decision. The ninja masters said they didn't mind and gave him as much time as he wanted, and left him to his thoughts. Naruto weighed the pros and cons of the situation for awhile, before he remembered Kurama's last request. After a half-hour of thinking about, decided to join them. When he woke up from his meditation, he was surprised to find two people in the room he was in. One was a man dressed in a leather black ninja outfit, his head and face concealed by the hood and face mask he was wearing, and had a red-handled katana on his back. Then there was a girl his age, which Naruto had to admit was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, wearing a modified Miko outfit, with red Kunoichi Hakama pants and high-heeled tabi, her black hair in a high pony-tail, with a bang parted to the left side of her face, and yellow eyes. She had what looked like an ornate naginata on her back.

The two introduced themselves as Ryū Hayabusa, Jô's son and heir to the clan, and Momiji, a Dragon Shrine Maiden and Ryū's student in the ninja arts. Naruto politely greeted them, and asked them what they wanted. Ryū told him that they had been told what Naruto had told his Father, and they both agreed that should Naruto accept their offer to stay in their village, that Ryū and Momiji will help train Naruto in their own Ninja Ways. Ryū would teach him in Ninpo, proper Kenjutsu, Archery, and Ninjutsu, while Momiji will help him with his education since she was told of how he was sabotaged in the Academy.

Naruto told them he had been meditating on the offer, and said he accepted. Thus began Naruto's new life in Kakure.

The training he went through with Ryū was what the Blonde could call, hell. This training was on par with the toads, if not more brutal. He was forced to lift huge boulders on his shoulders, dodge arrows, kunai, and shuriken, learn stealth without being noticed, and in the spars with Ryu, the Ultimate Ninja showed no mercy. While Momiji, taught the former Konoha-nin about the history of the village, as well as the Hayabusa and Mugen Tenshin Clans. He was surprised to learn that the Hayabusa were descended from the Dragon Ninja, who in turn, were descended from real Dragons. The Mugen Tenshin ninja clan was believed to be descended from the mythical creatures known as Tengu. While Fu-Ma clan was, originally a cadre of demon hunters that eventually became a ninja clan. He learned that the three clans were once native to Oni no Kuni, but apparently, the Daimyō wanted their legendary power for himself. As a result, they were forced to leave their ancestral home or face utter annihilation. They traveled across the Elemental Nations searching for a new home until they finally came to the Western Lands, and founded Kakure.

For a few months, Naruto trained under Ryū and learned under Momiji. He even met Ayane, the pariah of the Mugen Tenshin. Seeing as how she was treated by most of her clan, Naruto managed to break her out of her jealousy for her half-sister, and her cold persona. He even managed to mediate peace between her and her half-sister Kasumi, who developed a slight crush on him. To say Kasumi quickly became like a sister to him, as her caring nature and gentleness were a far cry from the normal ninja life and reminded him of a certain Hyūga back in Konoha that he loved.

However, one day the village came under attacked by the Black Spider Ninja Clan. Naruto and the other Ninja of Kakure fought in the defense of the attack, but after an explosion's shockwave hit Naruto, he then found a strange sword lying in front of him. The oddest thing was that the Sword was giving off its own strange aura that reminded him of the dragon eye. Without much of a choice, Naruto took the strange blade as his own and began using it to continue defending the village from the attackers. As soon as the Spider-nin retreated and everything calmed down, the Kakure ninja saw Naruto holding the Katana and were immediately fearful of him, but were then stunned, as Naruto didn't show an ounce of being overpowered by the sword.

Naruto was confused by the other Kakure ninjas' shocked faces and asked what was wrong with them. After being asked by Jô where he got the sword, and if he felt strange, Naruto told him what happened, and how he used the sword to fight off the spider-nin, and that he felt all right. To say, the others were shocked was an understatement. Then explained to Naruto that the sword he was wielding was a sword that had mysterious appeared in the village ever since Ryū destroyed the dark dragon blade six months ago. He said that the power of this sword was completely unknown to them and any ninja that wanted to wield the sword, the sword would quickly reject them and destroy their souls. All they knew about the sword was its name, the Hiryūken. Naruto had been accepted by the sword as its wielder.

Six months after the Black Spider Clan invasion, Naruto was told by Jô that he was ready to take the Dragon Ninja Trials. The Trials were a series of tests that are grouped in five levels: Acolyte, Lesser, Greater, Head, and Master, although, very few people ever took the trials, and for very good reason. The trials were held in a nearby cave where one of the Ryūjin had taken up resides, after the three clans' were exiled from Oni no Kuni. The leader of the Hayabusa clan warned the former Neo-Toad Sannin that the possibility of being killed was extremely high. However, Naruto just gave him a determined look, and told him that he didn't care if he died, at least he'll die knowing that he had the guts to go through with it.

He managed to pass the first three with little difficulty, but then it got harder to where he was almost killed on one of the Master Trials. Nevertheless, through it all he pulled through. However, he faced one of his greatest challenges during the final trial, where he had to face two demons of his past: Yami Naruto, and Obito Uchiha. He fought his two old enemies for what felt like days. However, in the end, Naruto managed to defeat them both, and passed the last Dragon Ninja Trial. Then, as a shock, the souls of his parents appeared before him. After a tearful embrace, they told him that they knew what had happened to him after the war ended, and to say they were very disappointed in Konoha would a vast understatement. Both of them told him that no matter what village he was a part of, they would always be proud of him, and then left to go back to the afterlife. Naruto immediately collapsed from his injuries afterwards.

He had to spend almost two weeks in the village medical center due to his injuries, even with Kurama's chakra healing him. The occasional visitors he got during his time recovering were Momiji, Ayane, Kasumi, and a new girl that he had rescued during the Black Spider Ninja Clan's invasion by the name of Taki who he noticed have shown signs that Hinata from his former home village had shown toward him when they were younger. Other people who visited him while he was recovering from his injuries were the village's orphans from the Dark Dragon Sword incident, Sanji, Sakura, the girl he saved, Hanamaru, and Denroku, who came to view him as an older brother, along with Ryu, in the months Kakure became his adopted home. After he finally recovered from his wounds, he, Ryu, Ayane, and Momiji were sent out on a mission to destroy a black spider ninja supply depot that was in league with a group of rōnin samurai. However, these Samurai unlike their wannabe Samurai counterparts in the east, they actually train until their bones and bodies broke.

During the mission, Naruto fought an rōnin Samurai who called himself Tendoka. He wore Indigo with gun-metal grey trimmed Robes, and his armor was colored black and silver. He also wore a mask similar to Kakashi's, only it was grey, and he had grey blue eyes. Any other physical features the stranger had, Naruto couldn't see because of his hood and mask. Tendoka's signature weapon was a sword that reminded Naruto of his own weapon. Only this sword was a Miao Dao, the Chinese version of the Japanese Katana. The handle was black, while the pommel, tang, and guard were solid brass, and the blade was a glimmering silver. What shocked Naruto the most was that Tendoka knew of his past life back in Konoha, and said that he too, knew about being betrayed by those he thought cared for him.

The battle the two fought was intense, as the rōnin was well skilled in using his sword, and his Taijutsu was absolutely flawless. It only ended when Ryū and the others came to back up the Blonde former jinchūriki. However, before he left using the Shunshin technique, Tendoka advised him that he should seek out a new summons contract to replace the Toads who abandoned him. Two days later, the former Konoha ninja decided to take the rōnin Samurai's advice. After Ryū pointed him in the right direction, Naruto began his search for a new summoning contract or more specifically, he was trying to find the legendary Dragon Summoning Contract. It was rumored that the Dragon Contract contained all the species of dragons from across the lands.

It had taken Naruto a whole year to find the contract, which was in an underground complex that had been built underneath an abandoned castle on an island in the middle of a lake. There, among many of the treasures left behind by the original owners, and the remains of dozens of dead Samurai, on a pedestal resembling a four-legged wing dragon sat the scroll that he had been looking for. The scroll itself was brownish-green in color, and was roughly the same size as the Toad Summoning Contract. He couldn't help but smile when he remembered how he met Draco.

* * *

**Start of a Flashback**

* * *

_Before he could even get near the scroll and touch it, a thick accented voice stopped him in his tracks. _

_**"You know, you are not the first to try and get the Dragon Contract, do you?"**__ the voice spoke in an almost amused manner._

_Naruto quickly twirled around, and came face-to-face with a massive dragon that was easily twice the size of Gamabunta. It looked like a classical Western-Style Dragon, with Reddish colored scales and yellow draconic eyes, with several horns sticking out of the back of its head. _

_"Yeah, so I heard." Naruto said meekly, as he felt slightly intimidated by the very large, reptilian monster before him._

_The Dragon gave a deep chuckle at that as he looked at the blonde ninja, who was currently wearing his standard Kakure ninja attire. _

_**"Ah, so you're ninja. One from Kakure at that, I heard great things about your village from the dragon god that watches over you. Hmm, I know this scent...You wouldn't happen to be a Jinchūriki now, would you?"**__ he commented as he sniffed the air as if his was picking up a particular powerful scent. _

_Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly at the comment about him being a Jinchūriki. Despite it being nearly two and half years since Kurama died, he still took being called a Jinchūriki as an insult of the highest caliber. To him being called a Jinchūriki meant that they had sacrificed their humanity in order to become the jailers of the Bijū. _

_"You've got something against Jinchūriki's? If you are then maybe this contract isn't the right one for me." He asked in a defensive manner, ready to leave at a moment's notice._

_He would have nothing to do with a summoning contract with animals that couldn't tell the difference between the kunai knife and the scroll that the weapon was sealed within._

_**"No, I hold nothing against Jinchūriki. Only fools confuse the Demon with its container...and if I recognize that scent from anywhere, I believe you must be the former Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune, correct?"**__ The Dragon just snorted with a slight disgust at the accusation that had been placed against him._

_Naruto was taken aback by this. After being betrayed by the toads, he had become extremely wary of animal summons out of being backstabbed again. Therefore, to hear that this western dragon, a species of animal that were legendary for hatred for everyone not having anything against people who held demons inside of him came bit as a surprise._

_"You knew Kurama before he died?" he asked in a shocked manner as he stared at the dragon_

_Naruto knew that Kurama had been around for a long time as he had met the other Bijū during his battle with Obito. Nevertheless, even after all this time, it still came to him as a surprise that Kurama knew so many different people and creatures._

_**"Not personally, but I knew one of his containers, Mito Uzumaki. She was easily the most headstrong woman that I had ever met, perhaps that's why she was my favorite summoner back then."**__ The dragon commented as he smiled at the memory of the wife of the Shodai, while Naruto was shocked at the revelation that the Dragon in front of him had been around since the time of the Shodai Hokage. _

_The dragon then looked back at Naruto again. Even if he didn't say it out loud, he could see a lot of Mito and her husband Hashirama Senju in the young man, which was a lot better in his opinion as he remembered his first meeting with Madara Uchiha._

_**"So, what's your name, kid?"**__ it asked in an honest manner._

_Naruto stared at the dragon for brief second wondering if he should include his father's name. It wasn't because he hated the fact that his father had sealed Kurama inside of him, when he was nothing more than a newborn child that didn't know what was going on around him. It had to do with the fact that he went by the surname of Uzumaki for so long that it became ingrained into his psych that he would only call himself that._

_"Naruto…. My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." He finally answered hoping that the dragon didn't take offense because he took a while to name himself._

_The Dragon looked a bit surprised at the revelation._

_**"Well now, this is a pleasant surprise, a dependent of the Uzumaki Clan! And here I thought that the last Uzumaki died out when Uzushiogakure was destroyed."**__ he said in an almost pleased at the sudden turn of events._

_This led to a question that had been bugging him for some time now. Every single ninja village had at least one summoning contract that boosted the village's reputation amongst the people in the elemental nations._

_"Were...all Uzumaki's Dragon Summoners?" Naruto asked hoping to get an answer to his question._

_The Dragon simply nodded in confirmation._

_**"Yes, almost all of our summoners in the past had been a part of the Uzumaki Clan. When we thought the Clan was wiped out in the Second Shinobi World War, I took the contract here to wait for someone worthy enough to be our summoner to come. As you can see, we haven't had much luck until you showed up."**__ the dragon commented as he pointed out the various skeletal remains surrounding them._

_Naruto weakly chuckled little bit as that was probably the most obvious answer, anybody had ever given him._

_"Anyways, what is your name, Dragon-sama?" He asked not wanting to continue calling the dragon that if he were to become the new holder of the dragon contract._

_The Dragon just grinned at him for a bit before answering. _

_**"You may call me, Draco."**__ Draco proudly declared as slightly stretched his wings to keep some feeling in them and to make a more impressive display of power._

* * *

**End of Flashback**

* * *

It was then, after passing Draco's tests for Loyalty, determination, and strength, that Naruto was made the next Dragon Summoner. He then began to tell Draco about his life in Konoha before he became a Ninja of Kakure. Just like with the four leaders of Kakure village, Naruto told the dragon about he had been neglected and abused during his childhood and at the academy because the teachers attempts to sabotage his education at the Academy. He explained how he became a Genin for saving Iruka-sensei's life and protecting the Fūin no Sho from Mizuki. He went on to explain the various missions that he went on to during his time as a ninja of Konoha. He then talked about the buildup to the Fourth Great Shinobi War, how he met his parents, his victory over Tobi, and his final battle with Sasuke. Next, he told him how the people of Konoha went back to despising him. How the Konoha 12, with the exception of Hinata abandoned him. How his own Godparents falsely accused him of his parents' deaths, and how Jiraiya and the Toads removed him from the Contract and finally, his banishment, and how Tsunade never hesitated to do so, and the few people who cared about him saw him off.

To say Draco was disappointed in his old summoner's granddaughter was an understatement, and was greatly ashamed of the people of Konoha. After that, Naruto returned to Kakure, with Draco giving him a lift back to the village. The shinobi of Kakure nearly freaked out when they saw a massive Dragon flying their way, however when it landed and they saw Naruto on its back, they finally calmed down, yet they were still shocked being in the presence of Draco. For the next two years, Draco and the other Dragons trained him in the Dragon Sennin Arts, and became known in the Western lands as the Dragon Ninja because he possessed the Dragon Contract and because he was often partnered up with Ryū, while in the East, he was simply known as the Dragon Sennin.

"Naruto-onii-chan!" Naruto was shaken from his thoughts when he heard a voice calling him.

He saw that was Sakura running toward him, who he often called Saku-chan for short, with Sanji following short distance behind her.

"Onii-chan! It's time for dinner," Sanji said, "Kaa-san made your favorite!"

Naruto smiled as he stood up "Well then, best not keep the others waiting Sanji-Kun, Saku-Chan!" He said as he picked the two up, and they disappeared in a Shunshin.

* * *

**Meanwhile In Konoha**

* * *

Tsunade Senju, the Godaime Hokage of Konoha, and last of the Senju Clan, sighed as she looked at the reports. Apparently, Orochimaru was up to his old tricks, again and managed to convince the hardliners of Iwa, Kumo, and Mist, to rebel against their respective Kages, and allied their villages with him. Ōnoki the Sandaime Tsuchikage, and Ē the Yondaime Raikage, were killed in their respective village uprisings, while the Godaime Mizukage Mei, along with Ōnoki's granddaughter Kurotsuchi, Ē's brother Bee, and the revived Yugito had simply disappeared.

Orochimaru then declared the sole intention of this alliance, the complete eradication of Konoha. Normally, it wouldn't be that bad for the hidden leaf village as they had plenty of powerful allies to call upon for help during a time war. This time however, all the various nations that were allied with them, with the exception of Suna, had torn up their treaties and turned their backs on Konoha because the village had banished their hero, Naruto.

Ever since he had been banished, things had gone downhill for the Hidden Leaf Village as people simply refused to give high ranking missions to a village that would backstab one of their own. First, the Fire Daimyō then came in person to announce that he was cutting their funding in half, which furthered weakened the village, which was still recovering from Pain's invasion five years ago. Suna was still an ally, but tensions were slowly mounting between the two.

She grunted angrily, as she thought about the blonde-haired jinchūriki. A week after he had been banished, Tsunade then announced to the entire village of Naruto's condition as the Kyūbi container. This of course, made most of the village's younger generation hate Naruto even more as they viewed him as the Kyūbi.

However, there were still a handful of people who still viewed Naruto as himself, namely Anko, Hinata, Izumo, the Ichiraku's, Kotetsu, Kosuke Maruboshi the eternal genin, Tenten, and Yūgao. Even her own apprentice Shizune still supported Naruto after all this time. Ever since his banishment, her former apprentice began trying to distance herself away from her old teacher, shocked and disgusted that the woman she thought of as a mother would stoop to such lows.

Then there was the case, where Naruto's former teacher at the Academy Iruka Umino had committed suicide at his home, a year after he had been banished. His body was found by Kakashi, who also discovered the Academy Teacher's suicide note, showing his disgust towards what the villagers of Konoha did and said to Naruto, and that they had lost the will of fire for believing that he was a demon. A few days after Iruka's suicide, Kosuke Maruboshi angrily confronted her when she was taking a walk around the village and called her a hypocrite in front of the entire village for despising Naruto for being the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi when her own grandmother had been the first Jinchūriki for the beast before resigning as a ninja of Konoha.

Following that confrontation, Jiraiya went to Mount Myōboku with a copy of the seal that Minato had used to seal the Kyūbi into his son with, and he along with Fukasaku met with another Toad that happened to be was an expert with Sealing. The toad took a look at the Seal that Naruto had on him, and studied how it contained the Kyūbi, preventing it from influencing Naruto. In addition, while studying it, he also discovered the part of the seal that once contained Minato and Kushina's chakra. They were surprised by that, and wondered why they would seal their chakra into the seal. It was Jiraiya who figured it out, and immediately hated himself for being so blind. He gave this information to Tsunade, who chosen to ignore what she heard, continued to blame Naruto for everything that was wrong with the village.

He then quietly told the other Konoha 11 and their sensei of this discovery knowing that Tsunade would never, and almost immediately the ones who wrongly accused Naruto of being a demon, with the exception of Kurenai, Sakura, and Sasuke were wrecked with guilt. Jiraiya then made the decision to tell the entire village of Naruto's heritage, and how his parents had sacrificed themselves to save him, and the village from the Kyūbi's fury. It didn't take long for many villagers who mistreated began to regret what they did, more specifically the Konohamaru Corps. The Tsunade and the village Elders were furious that he went behind their back and revealed that piece of classified information, but Jiraiya simply told them to fuck off.

The brief sound of someone knocking on her office door got her attention.

"The door is unlocked, you may enter." she ordered as she continued working a small stack of paperwork.

The door opened and Shizune came in, though she tried her hardest to avoid making eye contact with her former master.

"The shinobi that you asked for are here, Hokage-sama." She said in a tone that clearly said she didn't want to be in there.

Tsunade could only sigh at that the treatment she was getting from her oldest student. After everything that she did for her, Shizune repays her by siding with demon brat over her teacher.

"Then send them in Shizune." the Godaime Hokage ordered as she put down her pen so she could focus on the mission that she was about give out that needed to succeed if the village was to keep its status as one of the five great shinobi village.

Shizune immediately left the room to carry out her orders not wanting to stay in the same room as the women that had betrayed her grandfather's very beliefs and principles. A few moments later the remaining members of Konoha 11 and their former teachers along with Anko, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Yūgao who was dressed in a regular Jōnin uniform rather than her ANBU outfit. In the last five years, Naruto's former classmates and comrades-in-arms had been promoted to the rank of Jōnin shortly after Naruto's banishment. However, the two that had changed the most were Hinata and Tenten who had become extremely cold and confrontational towards everyone earning the nickname the "Ice queens of Konoha" due to it.

"You summoned for us, Tsunade-sama?" Kurenai asked in a disciplined manner as she shot a nasty glare at one of her former students out of the corner of her eyes.

Out of all the villagers that still held a grudge against Naruto, she was the most vocal about her hatred for the Jinchūriki. She blamed him for Asuma's death, saying that if the Kyūbi had never been sealed into him, then the Akatsuki would have never come after him, which meant Asuma would still be alive today, helping her raise their daughter. Of course, this hatred put a major strain on her relationship with Hinata, who still loved the blonde-haired ninja even after all these years.

"Yes, as you all know the village is on the verge of bankruptcy and losing its status as one of the five great shinobi villages to. The fact that we are at war with three of the other major villages isn't helping our situation in the slightest." Tsunade spoke as she folded her arms and leaned against the front of her desk.

Everyone nodded their heads as they listened to their leader speak about the village's current situation. The village had made several desperate moves in an attempt to maintain its status, the most drastic being lowering the academy entry requirements, also have retired ANBU BlackOps agents and Jōnin ninja teaching the classes instead of the regular chūnin used to do back before this entire mess started eight years ago.

"Thankfully, I have a possible solution to our current situation." Tsunade started to explain to the assembled taskforce that she had selected for this particular mission.

Everyone else nodded, except for Yūgao who was busy looking around the room for something or to be more precise, the two people that often accompanied Tsunade nowadays.

"Is something wrong, Yūgao?" she asked the former ANBU Captain.

A few weeks after Naruto was banished, Yūgao resigned her position as ANBU Captain in protest to the unfair treatment of her surrogate little brother. At first, everybody couldn't believe that someone like her would go so far as leave such a sought after position just because they got rid of the village demon.

"Where are your friends, Koharu and Homura? I thought they became your best buds the moment you and the worthless pervert of a Toad began despising Naruto and then banished him," Yūgao asked making her disdain for the elders quite clear for everybody to hear.

Tsunade glared at her for that comment. It was true that after Naruto's banishment, she had come to rely more and more on the advice of her sensei's former teammates than the advice of the shinobi and clan councils. As the previous members that once supported the Sandaime's policies were steadily being replaced by younger ninja, who had seen how badly the village had been caught unprepared when the Fourth Shinobi World War broke out.

"They're not here, because they are currently at the hospital for their regular medical checkup. Besides I don't want them to know about this mission until after it's completed." She answered as she knew that it was no secret that both Koharu and Homura's health was steadily starting to decline as they were entering their early eighties.

Yūgao glared at Tsunade for prioritizing what little medical resources that the village had left to treat the ailing politicians instead of the wounded shinobi that were trickling into the village. The elders and the civilian council were constantly talking about how the village's ninja needing to make sacrifices in order to defend the village from its enemies, while they were wasting some of the few resources that the village had on themselves.

"And what mission is that?" Yūgao demanded, not caring that she was being extremely disrespectful to the village's leader.

Tsunade gave her a quick glare at Yūgao, as this wasn't the first time that the former ANBU captain had openly questioned her assignments.

"Your mission is to find the person and bring him back here, alive and mostly unharmed. You are authorized to use as much force as necessary to bring the target back to the village." Tsunade spoke making it absolutely clear that failure was not an option on this mission.

Everybody nodded their heads in understanding, that this was a rare S-ranked mission of the highest caliber that could make or break the village. For Sasuke Uchiha, this was a mission that would bring him untold amount of glory and all but legitimize Sasuke's appoint to the position as the primary candidate for being the Rokudaime Hokage. As many shinobi had made it perfectly clear, that they didn't want the former international criminal as their leader citing that it would drive all of the neutral countries and Suna away from them and into Orochimaru's camp.

"Who's the target for this mission, Tsunade-sensei?" Sakura asked her former teacher, wondering who could the possible target could be.

Like Sasuke, she saw this mission prove herself. However, unlike Sasuke who was trying to consolidate his position as the Rokudaime Hokage Kōho, she saw this as a chance to make her stand out in the eyes of the Uchiha who was still ignoring her despite everything that has happened in the last few years between them.

"The target for this mission is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." Tsunade stated in a dead serious voice.

* * *

**Okay let me make this clear to all of you people; I haven't abandoned **_**NINJA GAIDEN: Naruto's Legacy**_**. I just wanted to write another Ninja Gaiden/ Naruto crossover with a little bit of Soul Caliber mixed into the story as I thought that it would make for an interesting read for you. Now, I know many of you guys are wondering why I decided to add some Soul Caliber into the mix of this story, well the answer is quite simple: One of the characters in the Soul Caliber Franchise happens to be a Jinchūriki like Naruto. I thought that giving somebody that's going through the same problems that Naruto went through as a child might make this a lot more interesting that and I'm a fan of Taki.**

**Like my other Ninja Gaiden Story, this is a Harem with Naruto getting Ayane, Kasumi, Momiji, Shion, Shizuka, Taki, and Tenten. **

**Nevertheless, you don't have worry Ryū will be getting some love in the form of Anko, Kureha, Shizune, and Yūgao. **

**Hayate will also get a couple of girls, as soon as I find some that I think are appropriate for him.**

**Also those words that I used to describe Naruto's Katana sword are actual parts to a Japanese sword, if you don't believe me, fine. Just go to Wikipedia and type in Japanese Sword mounting and it will give you all the information that you'll need.**

**So until next time readers, Oorah to Ashes!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Welcome to Kuni Shinai**

* * *

Deep within the Hayabusa clan's compound, Jô Hayabusa was practicing the kata for the Clan's Style Ninjutsu in the in the Clan Compound's private Dojo. Just because his son was to become head of the clan soon, didn't mean that he couldn't keep in shape. Even as he practiced his kata, the forty-eight year old Hayabusa clan head was thinking of another young man that he had come to view as family.

Naruto had come a long way since the day they found him badly injured after he defeated Izaya alongside an unconscious Sakura and an extremely shaken Natsu. At first, many in the village believed him to be a spy from a rival clan or village, but after he told them his entire life story without showing any signs of lying, any notions like that were quickly dropped. Jô knew that the life of a Jinchūriki was a difficult one as he had seen how Natsu was treated by many of the people in the village because she held the demon that had once took control of a high ranking Fu-Ma ninja within her. Still what Konohagakure did to Naruto was just plain barbaric as not even the Black Spider Ninja clan wouldn't have done something that horrible to a child.

Jô smiled to himself as he thought about how far the young blonde former Jinchūriki had come in just a few years. The training Ryū had put Naruto through had made the young man into a stronger individual, both mentally and physically. His iron will and determination had greatly impressed everyone in the village, and showing them what it truly means to be a ninja. Thanks to that extremely useful Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu of his, he had been able to absorb all of the information that was presented to him like a sponge, what would've taken decades to learn and mastered, were instead mastered in a few short months. All the while, Momiji was teaching the former Konoha ninja, academics. At first, Naruto had been extremely shy around the protégé of Ryū because of her beauty and caring nature, but eventually, he managed to overcome that.

Then one night, a few weeks after the Black Spider Ninja attack, when Naruto was nearing the end of his training, Jô was visited by one of the Ryūjin in a dream. The divine dragon explained how Naruto had the blood of the Ryūjin within his veins, which meant that he too was a descendent of the Ryūjin like the Hayabusa clan. Which would explain why he had been able to wield the Hiryūken without any negative side effects, as the sword was the rumored sister sword to the Ryūken. That was when Jô remembered reading from a scroll that had been written by a scout about a clan in the elemental nations that had been supposedly blessed by one of the Ryūjin. That clan's name had been Uzumaki.

The divine being told him of a prophecy about a person who was blessed with having dragon blood within the, and had lived a hard life, who would come from the East, and bring peace to the West. The dragon went on to explained how Ryū and Kakure village would play an important part of the prophecy. Jô wanting to aid in anyway, asked the great being what he must do in order for the prophecy to come to past. The Dragon God advised that Naruto must take the Dragon Ninja trials.

Jô quickly began making the necessary arrangements as discreetly as possible for Naruto to take the trials, and he passed with flying colors. When he had completed the trials, Naruto explained to him and his fellow clan leaders about everything that had happened during them. From his first trial all the way to when he defeated the Yami Naruto and Tobi. The newly christened Master Ninja even went so far as to tell them about his reunion with his deceased parents. To say that Jô had been absolutely astounded was a vast understatement, he had been rendered speechless.

Then, there was Naruto's one-year quest to find the Legendary Dragon Summoning Contract scroll, after deciding to follow the advice given to him by the mysterious rōnin Tendoka. He told Jô how he felt that the name that the mystery samurai warrior had given him wasn't his real name, and the Hayabusa Clan head completely agreed with him. When he returned from his year long journey, he did so by riding on the back of a colossal dragon that was larger than any other dragon that Jô had ever seen in his life. The appearance of the mighty dragon had nearly started a panic in the village, thankfully however, by the time it landed its rider had been quickly confirmed to be Naruto.

After the village had been formally introduced to Draco by said blonde, the dragon quickly disappeared to return home and inform the other dragons of their new summoner. Since then he had been training with the Dragon Clan in the Dragon Sage arts. When questioned about the training, Naruto would only comment that it was far more brutal than the training that he did with toads. However, in the end he managed to pull through and succeed as he always does.

Jô could honestly say one thing about Naruto. Like his son Ryū, he simply made the impossible happen.

However, before he could continue his trip down memory lane, the veteran ninja heard a slight tapping noise to his right and turned as he saw a messenger hawk by one of the windows of the dojo. He recognized it as the personal Hawk of an allied Warlord, who had been a close personal friend of his since their younger days. Stopping his training to see what his old friend wanted, he walked up to the window and opened it for the hawk as it perched itself on his arm. He opened the carrying case on its back and took out a folded piece of paper. His eyes scanned the message and immediately frowned at what he was reading.

"Mako! Salmon!" He called out as he turned to the shadows.

As if by magic, two ninja clad in the traditional shōzoku uniform of Kakure emerged out of the shadows, only in different colors. One was dressed in an Ice white uniform, while the other was in an Earth brown uniform. The white clad shinobi carried a Kusari-gama at his side, while the brown clad one had a pair of sai that were as long as a tantō blade.

"Get me Naruto, Ryū, and Momiji, as soon as possible. Tell them it's urgent." He said to the two ninja.

He just hoped the two greater ninja didn't walk in on Naruto and Momiji doing a certain strenuous activity. The last person that had walked in on them was still currently seeing a therapist and several doctors for the mental scaring and bodily injuries that the two inflicted on them for interrupting their alone time.

"Hai, Jô-sama!" they said at the same time in perfect unison before sinking back into the shadows once more.

About ten minutes later, the three mentioned ninja appeared before Jô. Naruto was in his standard Shōzoku uniform, Ryū was in his Black Falcon suit, and Momiji was wearing her signature outfit. All three of them were geared up and ready to go.

"What it is, father?" Ryū asked with some concern before being handed the message.

He briefly read it over, raising his eyebrows in surprise. Naruto instantly became curious at the cause of his surrogate brother's expression.

"What is it, Ryū?" he asked with some concern at Ryū's sudden display of emotion.

Very few things could surprise Ryū, the last time he had been surprised had been when Naruto showed up in the village riding a giant dragon. Granted, everyone in the village had been surprised to see a friendly dragon appear in their beloved village, but still it was one the few times that the ultimate ninja had been taken by surprise.

"This...this is a message from General Todoh." Ryū answered, surprising Momiji and making Naruto raise his own eyebrows in confusion.

Seeing Naruto's confusion, Ryū started to explain just who General Todoh was.

"He's a former Warlord who's in charge of defending the only significant port and city in the Western Lands, Kuni Shinai." He said making Naruto's eyes widen in recognition.

The blonde ninja knew that he had heard that name from somewhere before, in some form of significances. However, the Todoh was somewhat common name here, so it was understandable that he didn't recognize whom they were talking about right away.

"You mean the same Samurai General, who currently has a seat on the Republic City Council, and is also in charge of the Police Swordsmen Corps?" he asked trying to get confirmation if he was correct on his information.

Jô, Ryū, and Momiji nodded their heads signifying that what he had said had been correct.

"That's right, Naruto. He's a skilled swordsman also a military genius of the highest caliber, but more importantly he's been a vital ally to Kakure ever since Ryū saved his daughter a while back from a group of slavers." the Kunoichi Shrine maiden responded as she smiled at Naruto for remembering such details about an important ally.

Naruto returned her smile with an eye smile, which confused both Jô and Ryū, as they could never figure out how he manages to do that. Suddenly somebody let out a small feminine cough, catching everyone's attention. They turned around to find Fu-Ma Master ninja Taki standing in the doorway with a slightly irritated expression.

"H-H-Hey there, Taki-Chan. What are you doing here?" Naruto asked slightly frightened at sudden appearance of the Fu-Ma Kunoichi, who didn't look to happy about the amount of attention that he had been showing Momiji.

Taki was easily the most skilled and accomplished Kunoichi that Fu-Ma clan had ever produced. It was she that had killed the clan's previous lead Toki, when he had become possessed by the demon known as Gel-o-Fury. She also had a healthy infatuation for Naruto when he had saved her life during the Black Spider Ninja Clan invasion wasn't lost on anybody especially Momiji, Ayane, and Kasumi who were already competing with each other for his attention. It didn't help that Taki was more than willing to show off her body by wearing that skin-tight Navy blue suit that showed off her womanly assets and body. The fact that Natsu was helping her in the unspoken competition wasn't winning her love from her rivals in the manner.

I came here on the behalf of Lady Chie to talk to Lord Hayabusa about a situation that has developed in Kuni Shinai. So imagine my surprise, when I find you and Miss Dragon Shrine Maiden over there practically eye humping each other!" Taki coldly stated as she unleashed her full might of her female fury onto them, causing the all the men in the room to start trembling in fear of her.

They may be feared ninja or in the case of Ryū a super ninja, but even they were no match for a woman who believed that something of hers was being taken away by another woman. The only one didn't seem afraid was Momiji, who was glaring at Taki with reptilian silted eyes. Ryū and Jô couldn't help, but feel sorry for Naruto for being caught in the middle of the inevitable catfight that would occur between two of the most sought after Kunoichi in the village.

"What Naruto-kun and I do in our free time is none of your business, Taki. Besides, I don't help from a little girl in order to get a man." Momiji angrily retorted as she grabbed Naruto's right hand to emphasis her point.

Now it was Taki's turn to glare, and to further drive home the point that she was more than ready to fight, she began reaching for her Kodachi that was tied to the back of her waist. Momiji responded by grabbing her Heavenly Dragon Naginata that was resting on her back showing that she wasn't going to back down. Jô sensing that the two women were about to fight each other and possibly level most of the compound, quickly intervened to prevent the needless destruction of his home.

"That's enough, you two! I will not have the two of you fight within my household, there is still the important matter of General Todoh's message to be deal with." Jô ordered with great authority within his voice making it perfectly clear to everyone in the room that he wasn't going to tolerate any violence in his presence.

Both women reluctantly stood down, knowing better than to defy the current head of the Hayabusa clan.

"Anyways, he's requesting for our best shinobi to meet him at Kuni Shinai, and that he will explain why after you arrive. Todoh is not the type of man who would request for our very best unless he believes he needs them, so that's why I will be sending you three to see what he needs." Jô spoke in a calm and collected manner, while he continued to stare down Momiji and Taki to make sure that they didn't do something incredibly stupid.

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding, save for Taki who looked ready to speak out as she really did have mission in Kuni Shinai that involved several rumors that the former Fu-Ma clan head Toki was still alive and was currently heading several illegal operations ranging from drug dealing to child prostitution. Hence, why she came to speak with Jô in the first place, as busting criminal enterprises was more of their specialty.

"Master Jô, I to have a mission in Kuni Shinai and humbly request permission to join your son's team on their journey." Taki humbly spoke as she started to plead her case to the unofficial leader of the village.

Everyone looked at her with some surprise, as they had never seen her act this way towards anyone.

"May I ask why you wish to join this team?" Jô asked somewhat suspicious of the Fu-Ma Kunoichi's motives for wanting to be a part of this mission.

Taki swallowed a small amount of saliva that had gathered in her mouth.

"Recently, I have been hearing rumors that Master Toki is still alive and is currently running a Yakuza criminal empire within Kuni Shinai. There is reason to believe that Gel-o-Fury has taken on his form and is using it until he can find a new host to inhabit." Taki truthfully answered, leaving out a more personal reason as to why she needed to go.

Jô nodded his head in understanding at what Taki had said. He knew that his former friend had practically been like a father to her after her parents died from the plague when she was little, and felt that it was her duty to ensure that his name wasn't tainted even further.

"Very well then Taki, I shall allow you to accompany the team to Kuni Shinai provided that both you and Momiji don't allow your personal feelings to get in the way of the primary mission." Jô firmly spoke leaving the unspoken warning and possible punishments that went with it perfectly clear to the two women.

The two women silently nodded their heads in agreement. Jô took a deep breath as he quickly gathered his previous train of thoughts before Taki had shown up and started this entire episode of drama with Momiji.

"Anyway, General Todoh is requesting for our very best shinobi to meet with him at his mansion in Kuni Shinai, there he will be explaining what your mission is. He is not the type of man who would make such a request like this unless he seriously believes that they'll be needed." Jô spoke as he looked at the gathered group of ninja in the room.

The four mentioned shinobi nodded their heads in affirmative at that before leaving to prepare for their mission, thus leaving Jô alone in the Dojo. The elder Hayabusa sighed; he had a gut feeling that something important will happen on the mission. And for some reason, he just knew that it will involve Naruto in some way.

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**Meanwhile, somewhere in the Western Lands**

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A certain white-haired super pervert was busy nursing the wounds he had received during the vicious beating from every woman in the Konoha Ninja Team sent to retrieve Naruto. Normally, the toad sennin would be trying to milk his injuries for all their worth with some women in attempt to get them to treat him, but right now he had more important things to think about than his next possible score. Besides none of the women currently with him would fall for his sob story seeing how they were the ones that inflicted the injuries in the first place.

"_That's the last time I'll ever "accidentally" grope Tenten or Hinata when Anko is around to see me do it."_ Jiraiya thought to himself as he struggled to catch up with the small taskforce that had been sent out to hunt down Naruto.

Currently, he was worrying about a recent prophecy that Lady Shion had made about the fate of the Hidden Leaf village. Normally, Jiraiya would simply ignore Shion's predications as Naruto had proven that on numerous occasions that there was no such thing as fate. But he then remembered that Naruto often tended to pull off the impossible on regular bases. There was also the fact that like most people he would purposely ignore human-made prophecies as they tended to be inaccurate to the highest degree compared to prophecies made by animal summoning. However, when it was made by a priestess from the Land of Demons then he tended to be keener on listening as prophecies from them were valued more than gold.

Then there was the growing religious movement within the village that was making him extremely concerned. This religious cult for a lack of a better word for it had suddenly sprung up a few months ago and had already taken several powerful members of the Konoha government into its fold. He had investigated the movement's teachings and much to his horror found something extremely disturbing about them. They apparently worshipped two ancient beings called the Archfiends. With that information in mind, he visited the great toad sage to learn more about these creatures and what he learned terrified him to the point that he immediately went to Tsunade to warn her about the cult only to find that he was too late.

"Is something the matter Jiraiya-sama?" A somewhat lazy voice asked with some concern causing the toad sage to turn his head to find Kakashi looking at him with some concern.

In the last four years since Naruto's banishment, Kakashi had changed very little. He still wore his standard Jōnin uniform and flak jacket, the only major difference being that his left eye no longer hidden by his forehead protector. This was due Jiraiya discovering and modifying a seal that had been created by Mito Uzumaki to help the Hyūga clan conceal their Byakugan while they were out in the field. Besides that small difference, his flak jacket and uniform no longer had the infamous spiral of the deceased Uzumaki clan due to the Fire Daimyō ordering the symbol removal from everything in the village after the banishment of the last true Uzumaki.

Of course, Tsunade openly protested the decree saying that she was a member of the Uzumaki clan, due to her grandmother being one thus only she had the authority to have the spiral removed. Only to be rebuffed by the Fire Daimyō, who retorted that Mito had left the Uzumaki clan to marry into the Senju clan. Therefore she wasn't a member of the Uzumaki clan by any means. The Slug Sannin didn't take this response very well, and had to be physically restrained by Jiraiya and several other Jōnin that acted like her bodyguards to prevent her from making the situation even worse for the village.

"It's nothing Kakashi. I just have things on my mind that concern me at the moment." The toad sage commented truthfully but not telling the silver haired Jōnin the entire story.

Kakashi simply nodded his head in understanding, as he too had a lot of things on his mind for the last several months. The problem at the forefront of his mind being Sasuke's and Sakura's recent joining the Vigoorian cult, after an incident where Rock Lee accused the two ninja of placing their own needs ahead of that of the village's. Of course, the moment that two students of the legendary Sennin joined the cult, said cult experienced a sudden surge of converts. This in turn caused the two neo-Sennin to completely disregard any orders that he gave them, citing that they didn't take orders from a nonbeliever like him regardless of his higher military rank.

However before he could think about the problem any further, Tenten spoke out in surprise at a sign in front them. The sign in question simply read in simply Kanji that even the most illiterate peasant could understand, for those about to cross the serpent's path, abandon all hope of survival.

"So… uh...we have to walk through this place here to get to Kuni Shinai?" asked Tenten with a bit of skepticism in her voice.

And rightfully so, since the sign posted at the start of the winding naturally occurring dam that titled "Serpent's Path" was basically telling just about everyone that wanted to cross it that they would survive the attempt. It wasn't exactly the most encouraging things to have written in front of the means to get from one end to the next in order for their mission to be complete. The Leaf village desperately needed Naruto back to help stop Orochimaru from launching an all out assault on Konoha, and get their former allies back to help them combat this new threat.

"That's what the map says." Jiraiya answered quickly, while leaving out some key facts about the map he had with him.

Or rather the map that he didn't have with him, thanks to a gust of wind removing it from his hands when no one was looking.

"Yoshi! We have a mission to complete. I say we go forth and our Spring Time of Youth will help us with overcoming this challenge!" exclaimed Lee with several or rather almost everyone in the group was groaning.

The only person who seemed to approve of Lee's attitude was Might Gai, who seemed determined to only encourage Lee's motivation. Shikamaru turned to face Tenten who looked absolutely annoyed by her former teammate's disregard for the sign's warning.

"Can't we just knock Lee out and throw him into the water? No one will know that we killed him." whispered Shikamaru to her, hoping that she'll go for his idea of getting rid of such a troublesome person.

Tenten let out a sigh knowing the answer to that question wouldn't be one that the Nara was going to enjoy. Everyone from the group save for Lee and Gai who were busy shouting about the flames of Youth quickly began to listen in on their conversation in the hopes that Tenten would give them an answer that would allow them to do something about their annoying companions.

"One, Gai-sensei would never allow it. Two, Tsunade would never believe it. And reason number three...me and Neji had actually tried that once, but Gai-sensei arrived for our team meeting so he was saved at the last moment." Tenten whispered back causing Shikamaru to let out a small string of curses.

Everyone else mentally agreed with the newly appointed Jōnin Nara at the fact that they simply couldn't get rid of the two most annoying people in the entire world. Not even Naruto was this annoying, when he was younger despite all the pranks he would pull on his fellow the villagers. In fact, some like Yūgao advocated the idea that his constant pranks had kept the ninja on guard duty on their toes and on high alert in case they were needed to chase after him. When asked for evidence to back up her claim, she would simply point out the amount of foreign ninjas and spies that security had captured, during his reign as the prank king of Konoha. And as much as the Village Council and Tsunade hated to admit it, Yūgao had raised a valid point which only made the need for Naruto's return to the village that more pressing.

As the group made their way through the narrow rocky path with water on both sides going far as the eye can see in what was possibly the biggest lake ever, many within the group were thinking about Naruto, and how things had gotten so far out of hand. They all had been united in the common goal of defeating Obito and Madara Uchiha who were using the Edo Tensei with his army of White and black Zetsu to conquer the Elemental Nations. After that mess was officially over, the only thing remaining to do was bring Sasuke Uchiha back to Konoha despite the calls of the other shinobi villages for him to be put to death for his crimes. And Naruto did just that despite everything he had already gone through!

And how did they repay him? They repaid him with neglect and hatred. Sakura had been the only one to physically hurt him, but the fact she did it anyway no doubt had a psychological effect on Naruto's mind. He was no doubt, scarred from the first of many betrayals by his so called friends. No one had hit Naruto physically since then, but many in the group would be lying if they said the idea hadn't crossed their minds on numerous occasions. Among them, the only ones that didn't think along those lines were Anko, Hinata, Tenten, and Yūgao as they never once saw Naruto in the same way that the others did.

Anko knew what it was like to get screwed by the village for something that wasn't your fault and saw Naruto endure everything to prove Konoha wrong for their past abuse. She had done the same with her own past connection with Orochimaru being her teacher growing up, but sadly both of them could now claim that neither one of them were able to convince the Leaf that they were not the monsters that people said they were. While both Hinata and Tenten had known all about Naruto's burden since they were small children, and didn't care about the Kyūbi being sealed inside him. They had seen Naruto putting up with the Leaf's abuse time and time again while never letting it get to him no matter what! As for Yūgao, she was like the older protective sister of Naruto, who helped him out when needed during her days as ANBU Captain, and watching over him to prevent the village from abusing or in some cases killing their future savior.

But Hinata knew that deep down that her being forbidden to be with Naruto on the orders of the Clan Head that happened to be her father Hiashi Hyūga had been a major blow to his heart, and to the Hyūga Heiress herself. Hinata had long since hated her Father for his actions, but never stopped loving Naruto despite the policy in place to have her become the wife of some blueblood nobleman for political gain, and she would have been married off to one too if not ironically for the political backlash that followed when Naruto was banished. No half-descent nobleman wanted to be married to a member of Konoha's so called "noble clans" due to that action, which would be considered by most as a means to committing political suicide, and would take years to regain even some form of influence.

The only way to reverse it would be to get Naruto back to Konoha and use him to help counter the village's current state of decline.

"_But do I want him to return? Just so he can be used again for someone else's benefit and then be killed once his usefulness is over? No! I won't. Naruto would never let that happen to himself again after everything the village has put him through. If it comes to choosing between Konoha and Naruto...I choose Naruto! I don't care if I am executed for treason if it comes down to it. The village doesn't deserve my loyalty anymore than it does Naruto's._" Hinata thought to herself as she thought about the blonde and wondered how much he has changed since they last saw each other.

However, unbeknownst to Hinata, her former teacher Kurenai Yuhi was silently glaring at her former charge with seething hatred. Their once mother-daughter like relationship had fade away when the Hyūga heiress had decided to side with the village demon over her and the villagers. The former lover of Asuma Sarutobi was determined to make sure that the team barely bought that demon brat back to the village and once he was done being useful, she would personally kill him to avenge Asuma's needless death.

As they walked, a tremor was felt by everyone, and instantly the group was on high alert with Hinata's Byakugan Eyes being active with the others getting ready for a fight in their own way. What they saw was shocking, as a giant sea serpent shot out from the water's murky depths, and it looked VERY hungry. It was absolutely massive! It was bigger than one of the late Snake Boss Manda's fully grown offspring and looked just as mean looking too.

"Jiraiya-sama, do something!" Kakashi exclaimed, while the little ground they stood on was breaking up from the mighty roar the creature let out.

Jiraiya looked at his late first student's apprentice with a what the fuck look adorning his face. Kakashi seriously didn't expect him to know what do about this creature as he doubted that even the toads knew about the serpent.

"Just because I'm a Sannin with vast knowledge of worldly things doesn't mean I know how to deal with this!" Jiraiya shot back as he dodged the serpent who tried to eat him while he was distracted.

Only to have Kurenai grab him by his coat and giving him one of her death glares that usually made even the most prideful man cave into doing whatever she wanted with a "Yes, ma'am!" coming out of their mouth in a squeaky voice.

"You better think of something right now, Jiraiya or so Kami help me, I'll turn you into a woman with a rusty and dull kunai!" Kurenai threatened with a near psychotic glean in her eyes, showing the she had long since leaped off the deep end of mental stability.

Jiraiya began to laugh nervously before he looked up at the hungry looking serpent towering over the group.

"Well when you put it like that uh...I know!" Jiraiya answered before picking up Anko and lifting her up over his head taking a page out of several old myths about sacrificing a virgin and nubile woman to a giant sea creature in order for a larger group of people to survive.

Surely it would work in real life, right?

"Hey! Put me down you dumb fucking pervert!" Anko exclaimed in alarmed at what Jiraiya was trying to do.

Jiraiya simply ignored her and proceed to try and sacrifice her for the greater good of the group. Besides out of the entire taskforce, Anko was considered the most expendable in the eyes of the village.

"Oh mighty sea serpent of the lake, I humbly offer you this virgin sacrifice in my hands, as well as any other you may desire here in exchange for letting the rest of our group pass by alive, and mercifully unharmed." said Jiraiya while everyone looked at him in shock.

Well...most of them were shocked while Anko looked pissed off!

"Oh, you are so DEAD!" Anko yelled out before she managed to get free from Jiraiya's firm grip.

She quickly proceeded to beat up the toad sage for trying to sacrifice her. The Sannin immediately began crying out for mercy, while the group tried to remind the Special Jōnin that there was a hungry sea serpent behind her.

"Now is not the time for this, Anko!" Kurenai called out before the sea serpent let out a mighty roar causing Anko to stop her vicious attack against Jiraiya.

The creature did not look one bit amused by what it was seeing. It didn't want to see one of them beat another up. It wanted to eat all of them.

"Your ass is so mine, if we make it out of this alive!" Anko called out to Jiraiya who was currently running ahead of the group despite the injuries that she had given him, while the rest of the group was running and screaming for their lives.

So for the next two hours the Naruto retrieval taskforce ran, screamed, fought, struggled to survive, and nearly died numerous times before escaping the mighty sea serpent trying to devour them whole. When they finally made it to the other side the group was soaking wet. Their clothes were torn in numerous places, and their muscles ached from the amount of running that they done in the last two hours. And more importantly, every single woman in the group was giving Jiraiya an angry look for what he did earlier.

Oh yeah, he was getting beaten up no matter what.

"Care to explain your actions earlier, Jiraiya-sama?" Yūgao asked in a calm but furious manner as she saw Jiraiya back up with his hands up, while laughing nervously.

The toad sage knew that all of the women in the group would be out for his blood. So he did the one thing that came naturally to him.

"Come on, you know I would never do that to you ladies! It was just to put the serpent under a false sense of security before I used by abilities that make me a Sannin and defeat it with ease." Jiraiya boasted in his usual tone he normally used to make the ladies swoon.

Though if Jiraiya remembered anything from his times doing such boasting, he would have recalled that the ladies were paid to swoon. As it stood with the women in front of him, they weren't buying what he was saying for one second. They briefly looked at the Sannin then at each other before starting a silent conversation. They turned to look at Jiraiya again then back at themselves, before looking at the Sannin one more time, and then finally themselves before giving the man a cold hard look.

"GET HIM!" Anko yelled angrily before the women were on him within seconds and began beating the life out of the man.

Jiraiya quickly let out a high pitched scream as if he was a little girl that was seeing a spider for the first time. The rest of the group watched in horror as the women ruthlessly beat the man who had tried to sacrifice one of their female colleagues to the giant sea serpent.

"I said once and I'll say it again. Women are troublesome when angry." Shikamaru whispered to his friend choji, while the sounds of Jiraiya being beaten mercilessly by the Kunoichi of their group could be heard from a distance.

He briefly winced at the sight of a kick aimed at somewhere no man wanted to be hit. Then again, Jiraiya did kinda of deserved it as he had pissed off every single woman during their journey with his stupidity and his lecherous actions.

"You don't have to say it. I'm watching it," Choji whispered back as he watched Ino landed a solid right hook to Jiraiya's face.

The vicious beating continued for a solid fifteen minutes before the women finally let up and allowed Jiraiya to crawl away to a nearby rock.

"I feel so much better!" Anko calmly exclaimed as she truly felt better after beating up the Sannin for his stupid action that nearly got her eaten, and risked the mission of being a failure.

Granted, the mission was already at risk of being a failure due to the reckless actions of Sasuke and Sakura, when they had first arrived in the western lands. The two decided that the uninformed people of the west needed to hear the "good" teachings of the Vigoorian cult. This had the unintentional side effect of having angry mobs chase after them until they left the town. So now the group was running desperately low on vital supplies such as edible food and drinkable water.

"What I want to know is why it's so difficult to get around to the other side using that one thin road to get across? That sea serpent makes traveling to the west extremely difficult. So how is it that the limited trade being conducted isn't hampered when heading in this general direction?" Yūgao asked to no one in particular as they saw some traveling couple coming along a road nearby looking all happy and joyful, with a spring in their step.

The rest of the group said nothing as they thought about what she had said. It was true that the few trade reports that Konoha had managed to acquire didn't mention any real difficulty on the part of the merchants save for the occasional bandit attacks.

"Let's asked those people over there, perhaps they can tell us." Kakashi suggested as he waved the newly arriving travelers over.

Unlike his two students, the silver-haired jōnin understood that the mission needed to maintain some level of secrecy and subtly. However, at the same time he didn't want to risk losing Naruto to the sea serpent on the way back to the village.

"Hello, can we help you?" the woman asked with some concern as she knew that the area was a hotspot for bandit activity despite the local government's attempts to pacify it.

In her arms was a healthy baby boy that wasn't even a week old. It was clear to the group that she had just given birth, and loved every second of holding the child in her arms.

"Yes, well. My group and I just traveled through Serpent's Pass. Can you tell us about the roads here?" Kakashi asked before Sasuke or Sakura could start spouting off about their religious cult.

Jiraiya began to nervously twitch as he eavesdropped on Kakashi's conversation from the rock that he was sitting on. The Toad Sage knew that he was only mere seconds away from having his secret being leaked out by the traveling couple. The traveling couple looked at each other as soon as the words Serpent's pass.

"What on Kami's green earth posse you to do that? That path has been closed for ages! In fact, it was deemed so dangerous by a local warlord that used to ruled this region that a road be made that takes you around the lake, and basically takes you directly here without being harmed by the Unagi." the husband of the woman answered as he scratched his head at the strange group's action.

The Konoha group looked at the traveling couple with wide eyes and mouths gaping at the news of another route. Even Sasuke and Sakura, who had been ready to launch a tirade about the greatness that was Vigoor, were stunned about the news.

"Are you serious? Why didn't you pick that up on the map?" Kurenai asked Jiraiya, slightly peeved that she had been needlessly placed in danger because didn't catch an alternate route on the map.

The sannin began to laugh nervously again, and saw the angry looks that everyone around him were now giving him.

"Uh...this might be a bad time to tell you I kind of...lost the map a few days before we got to Serpent's Pass and I didn't exactly look over that area. Sorry!" Jiraiya quickly answered with a nervous chuckle before he shivered at the killer intent being thrown at him by the entire group.

The traveling couple simply shook their heads at the sight that was unfolding in front of them. They knew that the group was no doubt from the elemental nations as most people from the west knew better than to use Serpent's pass unless they had a death wish.

"You should probably leave. It wouldn't be good for you or the baby to witness the death of our group member for his stupidity." Anko warned the couple in an overly sweet voice that was matched by a sadistic bloodthirsty smile.

The woman just nodding along with her husband before they left in a hurry, not wanting to see what would happen to the Sannin.

"Wait! Wait! It's not my fault! The wind took the map from me!" Jiraiya exclaimed, while he tried to back away from the group that was now slowly surrounding him.

Even as he was being backed into Serpent's pass, the Toad sage was able to read everyone's emotions with relative ease. The kunoichi in the group were giving him evil looks that told him that they were going to enjoy pummeling him again. The men however, were much more difficult to decipher as they were simply taking out kunai knifes and not looking at him in the face.

"That's actually kind of funny in an ironic kind of way, since the wind will take your ashes after we have beaten you to death and then burn your remains until there is nothing left." Anko replied in almost insane voice that told Jiraiya that he was going to hurt and she was really going to enjoy it.

Jiraiya gulped as he glanced around to see that the men in the group were sharing the same thoughts as Anko.

"Wait! Wait! Mercy! Mercy!" Jiraiya cried out as he was surrounded on all sides with his leaf ninja surrounding him on three sides, while the Unagi patiently waited somewhere within the eastern lake behind him. None of them were in a mercy giving mood.

His pleas for mercy seemed to only spur everyone to move in closer.

"I'm sorry Jiraiya-sama, but it seems we're all OUT of mercy. Fortunately, we are well stocked in terms of knuckle sandwiches, and ass kickings ready to be dished out for you to receive...free of charge!" Ino exclaimed before the group started to wail on Jiraiya again, causing the Sannin screamed like a little girl in the process…Again.

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**Twenty Minutes Later**

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"_I've just taken two horrible beatings in a span of less than five minutes from each other. That's got to be some kind of record."_ Jiraiya thought to himself while limping after the rest of the group to their destination.

Meanwhile, Hinata was thinking of way she could possibly help Naruto and possibly stay with him wherever he might be. Though deep down, she was afraid. She was afraid that Naruto might hate her as much as he might hate the rest of Konoha, or worse he may have moved onto someone else. Just the very thought of that possibility made Hinata greatly worry, as she stroked one of her fingerless gloves on her hands, which hid the storage seal on her palm.

Just four months ago, a mysterious old man came to her, while she was out on patrol duty, alone. The Hyūga clan heiress could just tell that even though he looked harmless, the old man was anything but helpless. The old man quickly explained to her that his name was Muramasa. She immediately recognized the name as there were rumors that he owned stores across the world, and that he was attempting to set up a few stores in the elemental nations. Muramasa was able to confirm that rumor before explaining that after Konoha had lost favor of most of the Elemental Nations that he decided moves on to greener pastures. But not before making personal visits to each of the few individuals in Konoha who still cared about Naruto, and gave them all swords as thanks for staying loyal to the boy.

"You have a pure heart, Miss Hyūga. You just need to keep your chin up and one day you'll be reunited with the one that you loved, I just know it." Muramasa told her as he handed her a beautifully crafted Katana before heading off to find Anko.

Those few words of encouragement from the old man had kept her hopes up ever since.

"_Naruto-kun, I know your dream of becoming Hokage is nothing but a pipe dream because of the village's betrayal. But, I hope you will still love me as much I still love you."_ she thought as witness several buildings appear over the horizon.

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**Kuni Shinai**

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Naruto stood in absolute awe of the city that was laid out in front of him. The city of Kuni Shinai was a marvel of achievement that could not be found anywhere else in the Western Lands, or even in the elemental nations. The city itself had been built over one and half centuries ago by a Warlord who had lost all of his heirs to the constant warfare raging in the western nations. Wanting to leave a powerful legacy behind, he gather forty-seven like minded warlords who had grown tired of the constant fighting and pooled their resources together to build a place of peace for many who want to escape the constant warfare. Despite the many conflicts between Warlords and other ninja clans, the city was mostly avoided, mostly due to the defenses that protect the city, and the Police Swordsmen Corps that not only acted like the military police but also acted as the military, due to having hostile neighbors on all sides.

After checking in at the city's main gate, the four Kakure ninjas walked through one of the streets towards the city council building where they were supposed to meet with General Todoh. Naruto let out a whistle as he looked up at the skyscrapers.

"Man, I can't believe a port city like this can be still standing, let alone it being this big with all of the constant fighting going around it." the exiled Uzumaki commented as they moved towards the government building.

Momiji smiled as they continued walking. It always amazed her as to how surprised Naruto was by how differences between the west and the Elemental Nations. Granted, the elemental nations only experience brief periods of warfare so it was only natural that things be done differently than in the western nations.

"It's been like this for almost thirteen decades, Naruto-kun. Of course, there have been attacks in the past, but they always were thwarted at the walls that protected the city and by the Samurai who vowed to protect it from danger at all cost." she said as she shot a chilling look at Taki, who was giving her a nasty glare.

Ryū, who saw this simply shook his head in amusement. It often took him by surprised at how dense Naruto was when it came to the feelings of the women around him. Then again, Naruto had openly admitted that when he had been a part of the hidden leaf village that he had oblivious to the feelings to two of his female comrades.

"That's right, Naruto. You have to give credit to the Samurai when they built this city. They know how to make things last." Ryū commented as he led the group towards their destination.

The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement and the three shinobi and the one Dragon Shrine Maiden proceed onwards. It took them an hour to find the Council building, and after informing the Samurai guards of the message Todoh sent them, they were politely instructed to wait in the lobby while a messenger was sent out to inform the General. As the group waited, Naruto got a good look at the Military Police for himself. Their silver armor with a black body suit underneath it reminded him of the armor that was used by the Samurai of Tetsu no Kuni, only it was slightly different. The traditional menpō had modified to have red eye lenses covering the eyes and a rebreather to allow the Samurai to continue fighting even if the enemy used a poison fog against them.

The weapons they possessed were the typical daishō two sword set, a Naginata pole-arm, or a Yari Spear, and finally modern Yumi bows with a quiver full of arrows on their backs. He could also see a tantō knife tucked away in their boots.

"They're well armed for a police force, even if they're a military police, don't you think?" Naruto whispered to Ryū who nodded his head in agreement.

The few times that he had been to the city, he never truly felt comfortable knowing that these heavy armed men were waiting on standby in case of the regular Ashigaru policemen couldn't handle a situation. Granted, Ryū simply figure that his uneasiness around the samurai warriors was due mostly to the traditional samurai-ninja rivalry or his bad experiences with the Greater Fiend Samurai known as Dōku.

"Even though Kuni Shinai is a neutral zone, the Council is not willing to taking any chances if they are attacked by one of the other factions. As the old saying goes, it's best to hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst." the super ninja commented with his eyes closed as he patiently waited for General Todoh to appear.

It was then the doors to the lobby opened, and a Samurai wearing custom silver and blue trimmed armor stepped in to lobby. The man was no doubt a traditionalist as his hair was cut in the typical chonmage style

The man scowled at the sight of several ninja being in his presence.

"The General may see you now. Please follow me." The man ordered before turning around and walking away.

Nodding, the three followed the Samurai out of the lobby, as they headed to where the General resided. A few minutes later, the group of four along with their Samurai guide arrived at the door to the General's office. The door itself was pretty average looking compared to some of the other doors in the hallway. The only ornate features about it were the brass hinges and door handle that had a seventeen petal Chrysanthemum flower seal engraved on it. The Samurai guide turned to them raised his hand signaling them to stop before he opened the door and stuck his head in to see if the General was in or in the middle of a meeting.

"Lord Todoh iswaiting inside for you. Please go on in." the samurai guide spoke as he opened the door all the way to allow the ninja into the office.

The four ninja nodded their heads before stepping inside the office. The General's office was rather large, but not too large that it would be considered impractical. It was filled with different artifacts, all in different colors from gold, bronze, and jade. Sitting at the end of the room, behind the desk, and with his back to the only window to the room was a man who looked to be in his late forties. The man's head was completely shaven, but from the man's neatly trimmed eyebrows and his graying goatee that he had dark brown hair. He was wearing the standard silver samurai military police armor but with red trimmings. They could also see strapped to his side was a katana sword that had a rusty brown hand grip, and a dark saya. The man currently had his eyes closed as if he was meditating.

"I haven't seen you since you were 13 years old, Ryū. It's good to see you again." the man said as he opened his eyelids to revel a pair of steel grey eyes.

Ryū quickly bowed out of respect, with Naruto, Momiji, and Taki following suit shortly after.

"Lord Todoh, it is wonderful to see you again." The Hayabusa clan heir commented as he lifted his head up.

The man gave a barely noticeable smile.

"And you as well, Ryū. Please, take a seat we have much to talk." Todoh spoke in a friendly manner as he gestured for ninja to sit down.

Ryū nodded and he mentioned for the others to take a seat in front of the desk. Todoh briefly looked over at Momiji and at Taki before nodding his head in approval.

"Hello there, Momiji-chan. I see you've grown up into a beautiful woman." The general complemented the dragon shrine maiden.

Momiji quickly blushed at the complement that she had been given.

"Arigatō, I'm actually surprised that you'd remember me since I was just a little girl at the time." Momiji politely responded as she bowed in recognition that had been bestowed upon her.

The man gave a joyful laugh at what he had heard. It was true the last time he had been outside of the city had been almost eighteen years ago and that was to go to the Kakure no Sato to sign a treaty of friendship between the two groups.

"True, but you resemble your mother so much." Todoh spoke in flamboyant manner, causing Momiji to sadly nod her head in agreement.

Momiji didn't really have that many memories of her mother, as the woman had contracted an extremely rare disease when she had been four years old. However, it brought Momiji great comfort when people that knew her mother told her that she looked like her.

"I'm glad to see that the Fu-ma clan has taken an interest in this situation." The samurai general spoke as he turned his attention to the only non-dragon ninja in the group.

Like Momiji, Taki simply bowed her head as a show of respect towards Kakure's long time ally.

"It's honor to meet you as well, Todoh-dono." Taki calmly spoke as she lifted her head.

Like many of her fellow Fu-ma ninja comrades, she didn't really enjoy talking with people who weren't really connected with the clan. The only exceptions to that rule being the Hayabusa clan, Mugen Tenshin, and Naruto. The general almost sensing Taki's reluctance from engaging in further conversation turned his head towards Naruto, who was standing in the back of the group. Naruto realizing that he had better introduce himself to the general took off his ninja hood and mask.

"Minato-kun?" Todoh spoke in a surprised and shocked voice.

The four ninja were surprised when the famed Samurai General suddenly stated the name of Naruto's Father. However, none were more surprised than Naruto himself.

"E-excuse me?" Naruto asked, a bit shocked that someone this far out west would have heard about his father let alone think that he was his father.

The general realizing his mistake quickly tried to recover from his sudden lapse of civility.

"Ah, my apologies for that slip up. You...reminded me of an old friend of mine from many years ago." Todoh spoke as he began to recall the days of his youth back in the Elemental Nations.

Naruto wanting to know why the leader of one of the most powerful militaries in the Western territories decided to speak out of turn rather than leaving it Ryū.

"You wouldn't happen to mean Minato Namikaze, would you?" he asked as he leaned forward a bit causing the Samurai's eyes to widen.

Never did Todoh think that he would ever hear that name spoke in front of him.

"You know of him?" He asked thinking that he could probably get some information on how his old friend was doing.

Naruto nodded, though somewhat sadly.

"Yes...he is or was my father." He solemnly answered causing the Samurai General to chuckle.

Todoh took a couple seconds to calm himself.

"So the dense idiot finally married that red-head woman from the Uzumaki Clan about bloody time." he said as smiled as he remembered the few times he met Kushina Uzumaki.

She was by far the scariest thing that he had the pleasure of sparing against. Her mastery of the Kenjutsu easily rivaled that of a master Samurai's. Ryū surprised by this sudden turned of events decided to ask the question that was on everyone's mind.

"General Todoh, but how do you know about Naruto's parents?" he said as he didn't really think that it was possible for Naruto's father to be that famous.

Heck, the only reason why Ryū had ever heard about Minato Namikaze was from his time in the Vigoorian Empire. Some of the soldiers that he fought hailed from the village of Iwagakure. They often compared him to the infamous yellow flash when he moved at high speeds to avoid their attacks. What surprised him the most was the way they talked about the deceased man gave him the impression that the yellow flash would suddenly rise out of the grave at any second.

"I met them when I was still a young rōnin still trying to find my place in the world." The general answered as he continued to look at Naruto with much interest.

He could easily tell that Naruto had inherited his looks from Minato save for the six whisker like scars that adored his cheeks, no doubt a side effect of being the offspring of the second Kyūbi Jinchūriki. However, unlike Minato who had allowed his hair to grow Naruto had buzzed off most of his hair so it wouldn't get in the way of his ninja hood.

"So did he become the Hokage, yet?" Todoh asked with honest curiosity at what his friend had been doing since the last he saw him.

Naruto look down sadly indicating that something bad had happened to the man that had inspired so much fear into the hearts of Konoha's enemies.

"Yeah...he did but it was only for a year. He died the night I was born, along with my mother." Naruto plainly spoke as he had long since given up on crying over the past.

Todoh's eyes widen at that piece of information, but then a somber look crossed his features.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about that. Your father was a good man, a bit stupid but a good man none the less." he said and Naruto shook his head saying it was alright.

Taki looked at Naruto with eyes for sadness. She too knew what it was like to grow up without any parents as her immediate family had died from an unknown sickness. However, unlike her though Naruto didn't have any one looking after him until he joined Konoha's ninja academy. From an early age, he had to learn how to be self-sufficient as possible and frugal with the limited amount of money that he had. Granted, those two skills were a necessity for all ninja, but no three-year-old should have to learn how to be like that. It was an almost common fact amongst Kakure that Naruto had suffered greatly during his time in Konoha, and it disgusted them all to no end about how the supposed ninja superpower of the east would treat one of their own.

"Your father was my friend. Even thought he is no longer with us, you can consider me you friend as well." General Todoh said as he offered his condolences.

Naruto nodded his head sadly. With that being done with Todoh decided it was time for him to finish off the pleasantries and focus on the task at hand. He'll mourn for Minato's passing, later.

"Now, let's discuss the mission that I requested you four for." he said as he opened a desk drawer and pulled out a folder out and handed it over to the four ninja.

In it was a picture of a bald man with terrible burn scars on the right side of his face. The man's right eye was a lightish grey due to him being blind in that eye, while his other eye was dark chocolate brown.

"Kazundo Gouda?" Naruto said as he looked at the picture and couldn't help but be reminded of Danzō.

Todoh simply nodded his head in affirmative.

"Yes, he's a member on the council. More importantly, he's a starched militarist that constantly advocating that Kuni Shinai should expand its borders and "share" the city's prosperity with the rest of Western territories." the Samurai General said with a low growl.

Ryū looked at the infamous samurai and felt some sympathy for him. It was a well-known fact that the former Warlord hated lord Gouda's guts to no end. However, Naruto was curious about the situation and decided to ask about why was this man so important.

"So what has this guy done, that's got you on edge?" he asked causing the General to look at the blonde.

Ryū let out a sigh of annoyance at Naruto's action. He knew that he shouldn't judge the blonde for asking that question as he didn't really know all of the important political players in the western territories like the other did, but still the dragon clan heir really wished that he would think a lot more before he spoke.

"Ever heard of a man named Gatō?" Todoh commented as he looked back at the picture and continued trying to get it to burst into flames.

Naruto's eyes widen in alarm, as memories of the arrogant midget shipping tycoon turned crime lord came back to him.

"Yeah, I knew him. I was there when Zabuza Momochi of the mists sliced his head off in Nami back when I was still a Genin of Konoha. What's Gouda got to do with him?" He commented as his voice turned cold as ice.

Ryū looked at Naruto with surprised, not at the fact that he could turn so cold at the drop of a hat. That was expected from the ninja of Kakure no Sato, a reputation that even the infamous black spider ninja clan could testify was all too real. No, it was the fact that Naruto had personally seen the demise of Gatō who had earned a reputation for being one of the most ruthless and treacherous crime lords in the world. The man had gone so far as to spark an uncontrolled gang war with the five most powerful Yakuza crime families of Kuni Shinai for no other reason as to weaken them.

"After Gatō's demise, Gouda quickly moved in and bought out his shipping business. When he took control though, he focused more on weapons running and smuggling alongside several criminal organizations. However, He still operates Gatō's old drug dealings and slave trade operations, but they're not his main focus at the moment." the General explained as he pulled out several tax forms that showed how much money that Gouda was estimated to be making from his various illegal operations.

The General then stood up, and turned around as he looked out the window of his office that lined up perfectly for him to see Samurai island. The island itself was a small eight meters long by eighty meters wide, but what made the island special was forty six meter tall statue of a fully armored Samurai wielding his Katana in the air while his horse was rearing in a controlled manner. To many people within the city, the statue was a symbol of Freedom and Liberty from the constant warfare surrounding the city. However, to the leaders of the rest of the western territories and even the elemental nations the statue was a symbol of defiance against the traditional values that allowed them to have power in the first place.

"Just recently, I've discovered he has also founded an underworld gladiator fighting ring, where some of the worst scum of the earth compete against one another. Murderers, traitors, Rapist, and the list goes on as to who participates in these games." he continued to explain why he needed their help in this manner.

He then went into detail of the games and the reactions of the four Kakure ninja varied. Momiji was horrified, Naruto was gritting his teeth, and though Ryū's expression didn't show anything, his fists clenched. Taki however, remained passive until Todoh mentioned on several occasions that his men had found several dead bodies of children with numerous amounts of broken bones and bruises.

"And you haven't done anything about this until now, why?" Taki angrily said causing Todoh to sigh in defeat.

No doubt, she was imaging Natsu being placed in a similar situation, if it hadn't been for her taking the young Jinchūriki under her wing.

"I need hardcore evidence in order to do anything and every undercover officer I've sent in has either disappeared, or has been found dead in a gutter. I only managed to find out about the Gladiator Games, until the officer who reported it to me was found dead in his apartment two days later. That's why I sent the message to your father, asking for help. I need you three to help me find enough evidence to bust Gouda." he then turned to face them or more specifically to face Ryū.

Ryū looked at the file again for a few minutes, and then looked at General Todoh. The Dragon ninja knew that by even receiving the good Samurai's message, they had in avertedly marked themselves as targets of this Councilman.

"Lord Todoh, on behalf of the Hayabusa Clan, and of Kakure, we will do what we can to help you take care of this situation." The super ninja spoke with his three fellow Kakure ninja comrades nodding in agreement.

The Samurai General bowed his head in gratitude.

"Thank you, all of you." Todoh quietly spoke as he lifted his head up.

With that the meeting was over and Todoh summoned one of his Samurai and ordered them to show the four ninja to the hotel where they would be staying for the duration of their mission. He then sat back down on his desk and looked at the file on his desk and glared at Gouda's picture.

"_You've managed to slip through my fingers many times Gouda, but this time. I will bust you if it's the last thing that I do, that's a promise!"_ he growled mentally before he shifted his attention to other important matters that needed his attention.

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**Later in a Hotel Room**

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Naruto looked around at the room that would be his home for now. The hotel room has one large bed, with a nightstand with a lamp and a clock on it. There was also a small bathroom, a kitchen, and a closet. Oddly enough, the room reminded Naruto of his old apartment back from Konoha, only that it was a cleaner and better kept. Shaking his head to forget about his former home, he didn't realize someone sneaking up behind him, until a pair of warm arms wrapped around him from behind in a hug.

"Something on your mind, Naru-Kun?" an extremely familiar feminine voice asked.

Naruto smiled as he recognized the voice, and turned his head to see Momiji behind him

"Ah, it's nothing." He calmly said as he turned fully around to find that her hair was out of its usual pony-tail.

He embraced the Dragon Shrine Maiden in a loving embrace and then proceeded to kiss her on the lips. After a few minutes the two separated for air.

"Did I ever tell you how beautiful and cute you look?" he asked and Momiji giggled as she traced a finger on Naruto's chest.

"Many times," she said huskily, and Naruto then kissed her passionately again before picking her up bridal-style and carrying over her to the bed. He laid her down gently and then the two began to make love to one another.

* * *

**((Unfortunately, I'm a terrible lemon writer, so until I can improve my writing skills there will be no lemons in the story unless I get someone who is willing to write them for me. But I assure you that there will be a lemon in this chapter later on.))**

* * *

Momiji gave a loud lustful moan as she and Naruto reached their respective climax. Their naked bodies were covered in sweat as the young woman collapsed on her lover's chest, while Naruto held her close.

"The others are gonna freak when they realizes we did this without them." Naruto commented as Momiji rose up to look at the blonde's blue eyes.

It was an almost unkempt secret that he was sleeping with four of the most skilled kunoichi in the village much to the irritation of the shinobi that had their eyes on them. He was also aware of the joke that was going around the village about if he was about to have sex with one of the girls then the other three would sense it and rush over to his location and join in the activity.

"True, but just being the two of us makes it better." Momiji said with a husky smile before the two kissed softly.

Naruto then gave a smirk, and then rolled the two of them over causing Momiji to squeak in surprise as she found herself on the bottom.

"Ready for Round Two?" he asked seductively, and the two continued with their lovemaking for 2 more hours.

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**With the Retrieval Team**

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Jiraiya was once more leading the team again as he had healed enough, however unlike last time he was behaving himself with Anko, and every female warning him that if he did anything funny like he did at Serpent's Pass, they cut his genitals off. They stopped at a town, and got a new map of the Western Lands, and so as to make sure 'they' did not lose it again, the map was given to Yūgao.

As they were on the road, the so-called Super Pervert felt his "Pervy Senses" go wild, as a big perverted grin formed on his face.

"_Someone I know just scored himself a hot babe...and is playing the mating dance!"_ Sannin thought to himself.

Anko saw the grin and was about to beat him up when a purple blur went passed at a super fast speed, catching the Konoha Ninja off-guard and knocking several of them onto the ground.

"Whoa!" Shouted Kiba shouted, "What the hell was that?"

Before anyone could answer him, they heard a distinct female voice shouting about how a couple of Baka had forgotten about her coming from the direction that the blur went.

"What the hell was that?" Yūgao asked out loud as she helped Tenten up off of the ground.

Never had she seen something move that fast before in her life. Not even might guy and Lee were capable of moving that fast.

"Hey! You wouldn't have seen a purple blur run past here?" A male voice called out from behind him.

The Konoha ninjas turned around two people standing behind them with a puzzled look adorning their faces. The first was a ginger haired man with brown eyes, who was standing at five feet eleven inches. He had a square chin and low brow that gave him a mature look that suited some one of his age, his hair was cut in a way that it reached his jawline. The lower half of his face was covered by a black mask that was similar to Kakashi, while a silver head band rested on his forehead. He was wearing a traditional black shinobi shōzoku with a pair of black Jika-tabi boots. For added protection he wore a silver chest plate with brown trimming along with silver gauntlets. His shins were protected by a pair of samurai suneate shin guards. Around his waist was a leather belt held in place by a two pieces of rope that were tied together. Konoha ninja could see from their position that he was armed with an eighteen inch wakizashi short sword that was strapped to the back of his belt horizontally, while a katana was on his back with the handle peeking over his right shoulder.

The second person was what really caught all of the males in the retrieval team's attention. It was a young woman with ginger red hair that was tied into a high pony-tail. She was around five feet two inches and had bright warm brown eyes. She was wearing a bright blue kunoichi with white trimming, while a white sash was wrapped around her waist to keep her dress from opening and exposing her body to the world. On the skirt portion of the dress was an intricate design involving a white phoenix, while a pair of blue side-ties kept the two skirts from flapping upwards when she moved. On her hands and legs she wore blue and white leg guards and arm-guards. On her legs she was wearing mid thigh stockings with low heeled sandals. Like the man, she too had a wakizashi strapped to her back horizontally.

Jiraiya immediately had to suppress the urge to let out a perverted giggle, as the kunoichi in his team were close by and were more than willing to beat the ever living crap out of him.

"_She would make a perfect addition to the Make-out paradise series. Good thing, I can remember almost any detail about a woman once I see them."_ The toad sage thought to himself as he continued to resist the urge to pull out his notebook and write down her features.

That was one of the many benefits of the Western lands being in constant warfare, people had more pressing issues than going after an author who used their likeness in an erotic book. Besides even if she did ever find out that he had used her in one of his books, what could she do about it. He was a legendary Sannin and she was just some no name kunoichi, she should feel honored that he used her in his books.

"You wouldn't happen to see a purple blur come through her recently, have you?" the man spoke with a little bit of annoyance in his voice.

It seemed that this happened quite often and he was somewhat used to it happening.

"Uh yeah, it went that way." Kurenai answered as she pointed in the direction that the purple blur went.

The man nodded his head in thanks and was about to leave, when the young woman grabbed him by the arm. She was squinting at them or more specifically their headbands.

"You're all Konoha ninja." The woman spoke as if it were fact rather than a question in a voice that was angelic to the males in the group.

The leaf ninja instantly were taken back as the two unknown ninjas became tense and began reaching for their weapons.

"_Why do I feel we're about to get our asses handed to us?"_ Jiraiya thought to himself as he got into a fighting stance in preparation of the battle that was about to ensue.


End file.
